AGM
The British Friesian Breeders Club held their 16th Annual General Meeting at Heygates Mill, Northampton on 21 March 2006. The Chairman, Ivor Davies, in his annual report stated that the British Friesian breed has made great gains over the last decade in milk yield and quality, without sacrificing the vital traits of fertility, longevity and robust constitution. Semen sales at home and abroad were increasing and a steady stream of new members was evident during the year. The separate breed code and new genetic index for British Friesians was introduced last year and was settling down well after a few teething troubles. The Committee has held regular workshops with the HUK classifiers and members were being encouraged to classify their herds. The EDFE was a great shop window for the British Friesian breed, clearly showing the differences between the Friesian and Holstein breeds. A Show Sub-committee has been formed to generate more interest among members in showing. Representations to the various bodies have been made regarding TB and OTMS, with little substance received in their replies. To misquote one well-known saying, “Ben Bradshaw fiddles whilst the British Cattle Industry burns”. The Chairman voiced another concern over the total unsuitability of some breeds of dairy cattle that are being suggested to cross with the Holstein to improve certain traits, when the British Friesian is ideal for this purpose, being within the Society and pedigree status of the offspring is safeguarded. Concluding, the Chairman thanked all the Committee for their hard work in the promotion of the ‘Farmer Friendly British Friesian’. The following members were elected to stand as Officers of the Club:- President: Willie Bell
Chairman: Ivor Davies
Vice-Chairman: Ben Pullen
The elected Committee of Joe Archer, Peter Bellingham, Chris Bradbury MBE, John Carnell, Geoff Coleridge, Brian Dalby, Don Griffin, Jackie Griffin, Mary Mead, John Simpson and Roger Troughton, approved the appointment of Ewart Grant as Treasurer and David Armett as Secretary. Following the conclusion of the AGM, the members were entertained by retired local vet Mr Mick Peace, whose reminiscences were very amusing! BRITISH FRIESIAN DATA The following weighted averages have been compiled from data supplied by NMR and CIS, for the Milk Recording year 2004/5. We still wait for the day when weight of fat and protein figures are tabulated on an annual basis, taking calving interval into account, as they used to be and which is the only figure that really counts. 7708 lactations 6680 kg Milk 4.07% Fat 3.32% Protein 404 Calving Interval Top NMR Herds JT GOULD & SON
124 lactations 7827 kg Milk 4.58% Fat 3.36% Protein 374 Calving interval FT PULLEN & SONS
141 lactations 7978 kg Milk 4.46% Fat 3.33% Protein 401 Calving interval HOLT FARMS
364 lactations 8105 kg Milk 4.02% Fat 3.37% Protein 382 Calving interval Top CIS Herds J COPLEY & SONS
73 lactations 7777 kg Milk 4.03% Fat 3.36% Protein 441 Calving interval D B & J GRIFFIN
43 lactations 7512 kg Milk 3.98% Fat 3.48% Protein 383 Calving interval AR PEMBERTON
43 lactations 7539 kg Milk 4.15% Fat 3.23% Protein 389 Calving interval Top PLI Herds MDC Evaluations W R MANN & SONS 236 animals 461M -.12bf% -.03 pr% PIN 29 PLI 32
J R SIMPSON & SON 82 animals 250M -.05bf% -.02 pr% PIN 24 PLI 32
G & JE CARRINGTON 12 animals 425M -.05bf% -.04 pr% PIN 27 PLI 31 BCMS registrations 2005 (sire identity British Friesian) Females 60,475
Males 70,453 The females represent 16% of all registered black and white females. We have no way of knowing how many British Friesian females were put to a beef bull. VISITS
We have a visit planned to Alastair Mann’s Blackisle herd in Scotland on Tuesday 11 July. Details will appear in the June Newsletter, but for those of you who would rather fly up to Inverness, we suggest booking sooner rather than later to get cheaper flights. Alastair will arrange collection etc. from airport or station. AUCTIONEERS / MARKETS
Congratulations to Highbridge Market for the pioneering way in which they have differentiated the types of black and white calves. This has always been a good market for British Friesians, and the encouragement to correctly sire identify for BCMS and market forms has led to a separation of H/F and British Friesian in their Market reports. Top BF bull calf to £94 and top barren cow (also a BF) to 87.5p kg (10 April figures). Please encourage your local market to do the same and correctly identify your cattle. Also make certain your milk recorder is identifying the AI and natural service bulls as breed code 20. (If in doubt, please check with us or HUK website). This is especially important for non-pedigree milk recorded herds. They must be at least 87.5% British Friesian. SHOWS
Please watch out for shows that have separate British Friesian classes, and support if possible. The East of England Show has classes for us, which Willie Bell is to judge on Saturday 17 June. Your committee will be attending the Royal at Stoneleigh, 2-5 July, on the HUK stand as usual. The EDFE in September remains our major showcase, and is just the place to see a great display of British Friesians.
Margaret (Burroughs) Vale (Oakalby) has kindly agreed to act as the contact for showing. Tel no. 01502 677240. SEMEN EXPORTS
Semen exports continue to grow, with Spain now added to the list of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, USA, Northern Ireland and Eire. A delegation is about to go out to Argentina where there is much potential for our breed. Rob Wills of UK Sire Services (who has valuable contacts already) and classifier Meurig James will represent us. There is absolutely no doubt that there is a major problem in many Holstein cows regarding fertility, frailty and therefore longevity, and that this problem extends to many continents.
It may very well be that cows registered with HUK average 3.4 lactations, BUT THIS INCLUDES BRITISH FRIESIANS AND MANY OTHERS WITH VARYING PERCENTAGES OF HOLSTEIN FRIESIAN IN THE HERD BOOK.
The attributes of better fertility and longevity for the British Friesian are born out from NMR data.
NMR recorded Friesians achieve 4.1 lactations against 3.1 for Holsteins. Heifers account for 17% of BF herds, compared with 27% for Holsteins and 2nd lactation 17% BF compared with 21% Holstein. With 48% of these recorded Holstein animals not reaching their third lactation it is no wonder that there is so much talk of cross breeding. We can at least provide the proven black and white answer, and remain within the herd book for those pedigree breeders. BROCHURE
This is a last call for those who wish to advertise in the Club Brochure. This brochure is used by farmers seeking to buy stock, and therefore is a good place to advertise your herd. BROCHURE JUDGING COMPETITION
The results of last years Brochure Judging Competition are as follows C B A E F D Congratulations to our winner, Mary Simpson. Obviously our lady members know their cows better than the men! Hopefully we will get more entries from the men this year to redress the balance!
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