National Aberdeen-Angus Show Returns To Westmorland
16/06/06

The National Aberdeen-Angus Show, held for the first time last year at Westmorland Show, is returning to the same venue this year.

photo courtesy
Westmorland County Agricultural Society Ltd

The show will be held on Thursday, September 14, at Kendal and is again expected to attract a large entry from throughout the UK.

Last year’s inaugural event attracted many of the top prize winners from summer shows in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland competing for £3000 in prize money and the Certified Aberdeen-Angus Beef Trophy for the “champion of champions”.

This year’s prize fund has been boosted to £5000 as a result of sponsorship from the Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society’s Certified Aberdeen-Angus Beef Scheme, Farmers Guardian and the Westmorland County Agricultural Society, organisers of the Westmorland Show.

One of Canada’s leading Aberdeen-Angus breeders, Barry Young, owner of the renowned Youngdale herd in Alberta, has accepted the Society’s invitation to judge the show.

Following the success of the inaugural national show last year, breed president, Nigel Hammill, owner of the Tegsnose herd at Pyegreave Farm, Coalpit Lane, Langley, Cheshire, is anticipating an even larger entry this year.

“Last year’s show was a tremendous success and we had fantastic co-operation and assistance from the Westmorland Show to make the show a real spectacle for the Aberdeen-Angus breed,” said Mr Hammill.

“Kendal is an ideal venue with easy access from both north and south and excellent facilities for the show.”

Mr Hammill added that the date of this year’s show would avoid a clash with the Kelso ram sales which last year had been held on the day following the show.  The Aberdeen-Angus breed will again have its own dedicated marquee and showring.

Westmorland County Agricultural Society chief executive, Christine Knipe, said the show society was “absolutely delighted” that the National Aberdeen-Angus Show was returning to Kendal.

“The show was very successful last year and attracted a large number of exhibitors and spectators,” said Ms Knipe. “We will be working closely with the Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society to make the show even better this year.”

The championship awards will be presented by Jonathan Charles of Costco, the UK’s largest retailer of Certified Aberdeen-Angus Beef. Costco and their wholesale meat supplier, AK Stoddart, are major sponsors of the Aberdeen-Angus Beef Club.

“The National Show plays an important part in promoting the Aberdeen-Angus breed to the public and highlighting the opportunities for commercial beef producers to meet the ever-growing demand for Aberdeen-Angus beef from Costco and other multiple retailers, including Marks and Spencer, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and the Co-op,” said Ron McHattie, chief executive of the Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society.

“Aberdeen-Angus prime beef cattle are continuing to attract a premium price which reflects the strong consumer demand for quality beef with guaranteed provenance.”

Mr McHattie said the easy care attributes of the Aberdeen-Angus breed, combining easy calving with low maintenance requirements, made the breed an ideal choice for farmers seeking to reduce costs to maintain the profitability of their beef enterprises following the decoupling of support from production.

“The combination of low production cost and premium price makes the Aberdeen-Angus breed a highly attractive proposition,” said Mr McHattie.

Champion at last year’s National Aberdeen-Angus Show was the three year old cow, Lady Croft Verice A089, shown by Brendan Hayward, Wester Aldie, Rumbling Bridge, Kinross.

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