BCBC continues to support one of the sector's most prestigious awards, the Sir John Hammond Award with BSAS. Awarded to those working in research, teaching, advisory, farming or affiliated professions who have made a significant contribution and positive impacts in the UK and RoI to animal science.
The nominations for the 2024 award close soon, please visit
https://www.bsas.org.uk/awards/sir-john-hammond-award for further details.
Closing date for nominations is 1st March 2024.
The award is highly selective and nominated candidates must be of high merit.
This award is based on nominations, please note that self-nominations will not be considered. A nomination needs to be supported/submitted by two members of BSAS or BCBC.
Please submit your nomination using the nomination form.
The award will be presented at the BSAS Annual Conference in April, and the recipient will receive £500 and invited to speak at the 2025 British Cattle Breeding Conference in January.
Who was Sir John Hammond?
Sir John Hammond arrived at Downing as an undergraduate in 1907 and for most of his career was a Fellow of the College. He also headed the School of Physiology of Animal Reproduction of the University of Cambridge and was a founder of the Cambridge Animal Research Station.
He conducted classical studies on embryo survival in the early 1920s. His famous study Rate of Intra-uterine Growth (1938) showed that crossbred foetal foals grew at the rate of their dams' pure breed. He was the first to crystallise the theory of metabolic rate-dependent prioritising of nutrient partitioning between tissues. He was also the first to report the duration of oestrus for lactating cows (19.3 hours) and heifers (16.1 hours). He studied closely the major changes in animal shape resulting from the domestication and selective breeding of farm animals.
With Arthur Walton, Hammond was one of the pioneers of artificial insemination ('AI'). As he could not practice certain AI techniques in England, because of religious and cultural taboos, Hammond sponsored work in other countries where such limitations did not apply. He sent a colleague, Dr Luis Thomasset, to Russia to work on AI with the Soviets. He himself introduced AI to other countries, such as Argentina. His book The Artificial Insemination of Cattle (1947) was the first comprehensive publication on AI published in England.
Hammond was the first President of BSAS (1944-1945) and founded the British Cattle Breeders Club in 1946 and was an active member in the early days of the European Association for Animal Production, serving on its Preparatory Committee. He ended his life as the guru of the British livestock world and is widely regarded as the father of modern animal physiology.
Previous Recipients of the Award include, Sharon Huws, Phil Garnsworthy, Judith Capper, David Kenny, Elizabeth Magowan and Eileen Wall.
For further information on the award and nomination process please contact Maggie Mitchell at BSAS maggie.mitchell@bsas.org.uk