22 NBA BEEF EXPO 2022 APR / MAY 2022 • farmers-mart . co . uk
Beef Shorthorn Society Celebrates 200 Years of the Shorthorn
The oldest pedigree cattle breed in the world celebrates its bicentenary this year , and the Beef Shorthorn Society is marking the occasion with a series of events and activities that celebrate the sustainability , the success and the future of this popular native breed .
THE formal recording of Shorthorns began with the publication of the Coates ’ Herd Book in 1822 , Beef breeders in 2017 formed their own breed society as a result of very rapid growth in demand for Beef Shorthorn cattle .
Clive Brown , Operations Manager of the Beef Shorthorn Society , said :
“ It is a real honour to be helping to shape the future direction of such an iconic and important breed . The Beef Shorthorn of today is ideally positioned for a farming industry that ’ s increasingly looking towards sustainability and resource efficient production . It has greatly benefitted from 200 years of careful , intentional breeding which has resulted in a form that capitalises on traditional , native traits - such as hardiness and efficient foraging - while delivering excellent yields and exceptionally well flavoured beef .
“ Our bicentenary is an opportunity to celebrate where we have come from while looking ahead with confidence to a successful future .
The focus of the bicentennial celebrations is the National Show at the Great Yorkshire Show and the 2022 World Shorthorn Conference , hosted in partnership with The UK Shorthorn Society ( Dairy ). This 14-day conference tour begins in London on 7th July and includes trips to Cardiff , Pembrokeshire , Cheshire , Durham and Dumfries & Galloway , plus a visit to the Great Yorkshire Show . There are additional Scottish post-tour farm visits to beef herds in Perthshire and Inverness .
Supporting the next generation of Shorthorn farmers is an important component of the 200 year anniversary , and an online auction was recently held to raise funds to deliver a Shorthorn World Youth Programme . This new initiative invites young people aged between 18-24 years to apply for the opportunity to work on a Beef Shorthorn or Dairy farm for two weeks . Young delegates will compete and learn alongside others at the Great Yorkshire Show before joining the remainder of the World Shorthorn Conference Tour .
The Society has also recently launched a new National Herd Award which is set to run for an initial three-year period with the silverware and cash prizes provided by sponsor Pedigree
Clive Brown
Sales Online Livestock Auctions . The award has been developed to recognise the 200 years of breeding excellence across the UK and Ireland by Shorthorn farmers , which has led to the Beef Shorthorn becoming rightly known as ‘ the great improver ’.
10 Key Facts about the Beef Shorthorn breed
1 . The Shorthorn is the oldest pedigree-registered cattle breed in the world .
2 . The Shorthorn is a native breed , evolving over the last two centuries from Teeswater and Durham cattle that were found originally in the North East of England .
3 . The iconic Shorthorn bull Comet , which is featured on all Society pedigree certificates , was bred by Charles Colling in 1804 and later sold at the Ketton sale in 1810 for 1,000gns , becoming the first 1,000gn bull ever recorded .
4 . The breed was used in the early part of the 20th Century as a dual-purpose breed .
5 . Known as ‘ the great improver ’, the Shorthorn has been enormously influential in the developing other cattle breeds , with more than 40 different breeds of cattle now incorporating Shorthorn genetics .
6 . Beef Shorthorns have been developed as a separate breed since 1958 .
7 . The Beef Shorthorn has significant presence in many of the major beef producing countries of the world , including USA , Canada , Australia , Argentina and Uruguay .
8 . The versatility within the breed means the Beef Shorthorn can just as often be spotted in the park lands of a country estate as on the top of a heather covered hill .
9 . The breed is known for its maternal traits - fertile , easy calving , milky and docile – making it an ideal suckler cow .
10 . Its versatility means it is suitable for a wide variety of modern day beef systems and its environmental sustainability traits are driving new demand ; great foragers , hardy and highly feed efficient , the Beef Shorthorn is ideally suited to the increasingly popular low input systems .
Key Events & Sales 2022
Meet us and find out more about the Beef Shorthorn Society at the following events :
For more information visit www . beefshorthorn . org
Mon 2nd May
Wed 11th May - Sat 14th May
Sat 21st May
Sat 28th May
Thu 23rd Jun – Sun 26th Jun
Tue 12th Jul – Fri 15th Jul
Mon 18th Jul – Thu 21st Jul
Stirling Bull Sales May , United Auctions - Stirling Agricultural Centre , Stirling , FK9 4RN
Balmoral Show - Balmoral Park , Halftown Road , Sprucefield , BT27 5RF
Carlisle May Society Sale , H & H - Borderway Mart , Rosehill , Carlisle , CA1 2RS
Beef Expo NBA - Darlington Farmers Auction Market , Humbleton Park , DL2 2XX
Royal Highland Show - Royal Highland Centre , Ingliston , Edinburgh , EH28 8NB
Great Yorkshire Show - Great Yorkshire Showground , Railway Road , Harrogate , HG2 8NZ . Tue 12th is the Beef Judging day & Shorthorn Celebration Parade
Royal Welsh Show - Llanelwedd , Builth Wells , LD2 3SY
The Shorthorn 17th World Conference takes place from 7th – 20th July at various locations around the UK . The following dates include Conference activity and visits to Beef Shorthorn farms .
Fri 8th Jul
Fri 15th Jul
Sat 16th Jul
Sun 17th Jul
Mon 18th Jul
Visits to Stanford Park Beef Shorthorn , Faringdon , and Charles Horton ’ s Hannington Beef herd - Cirencester
Shorthorn 17th World Conference - Lumley Castle Hotel , near Durham
Shorthorn 17th World Conference , World Council Meeting plus a visit to Page Farms Partnership , Beef Herd - near Beadle , North Yorks
Visit to James Playfair Hannay ’ s Tofts Beef herd Kelso , plus Youth Show Presentation
Visit to Paul Coates ’ Barwood Beef herd - Carlisle