Society Monitor Farm

by Iain | Oct 12, 2015 | Uncategorised

Society monitor farm to be featured in the Farmers Weekly commencing 9th October 2015

Reduction Sale Worcester Market, Sat 10th Oct

by Iain | Oct 8, 2015 | Uncategorised

Simmental club raises £8,500 for charity

by Iain | Oct 5, 2015 | Uncategorised

The NI Simmental Cattle Breeders’ Club has presented a cheque for £8,500 to Southern Area Hospice Services.

The money is the proceeds of the club’s 2015 charity BBQ and auction, which was boosted by a raffle organised by club members and hospice fund raisers John and Julie Jardine from the Spelga View Herd based at Ballyroney, County Down.

John Jardine said: “I would like to personally thank the Northern Ireland Simmental Cattle Breeders’ Club for its generous support. The BBQ and auction was a huge success.”

Southern Area Hospice Services is a local charity providing care for people who are living with cancer and other life-limiting illnesses, such as Multiple Sclerosis and Motor Neurone Disease. The charity cares for over 1,000 patients annually.

Its services include: in-patient hospice facilities in Newry; day hospice facilities in Newry and South Tyrone Hospital, Dungannon; outpatients clinics in South Tyrone, Daisy Hill and Craigavon hospitals; palliative care teams in Daisy Hill and Craigavon hospitals; homecare nursing in the Armagh and Dungannon districts; bereavement support services; and an information and resource centre based in Dungannon.

Anne MacOscar, regional marketing officer, Southern Area Hospice Services said:”A sincere thank you to everyone involved. This is a wonderful donation, and we really appreciate the club’s support.

“In order to continue providing a high level of service we have to raise £2.38 millon pounds annually. Southern Area Hospice Services relies heavily on the generosity of local people, and a large network of volunteers to help us achieve our target.”

NI Simmental Cattle Breeders’ Club chairman Richard Rodgers thanked everyone who supported the fund raising efforts.

The NI Simmental Cattle Breeders’ Club has been hosting its charity BBQ at Dungannon Rugby Club for 24 years, and during that time has raised in excess of £100,000 for local charities.

Understanding the new EBV Graph

by Iain | Sep 30, 2015 | Uncategorised

The BSCS is moving to a new graph for pen cards for all animals at Society sales. The new graph has been available for sometime as part of the Breedplan package used for performance recording and includes more detailed information on individual EBV values compared to the old graph. The new graph allows the buyer to see clearly where the animal’s individual traits fall in relation to breed average and also include the accuracy value.

Of course, as the EBV takes into account all the pedigree and performance information that is available at this point in time, the EBV is also the most reliable indication available of the animals breeding value for each trait at this point in time.

Within the display of the EBV Graph:

• The actual EBV Accuracy for each trait is shown at the right side of the graph.
• The Breed Avg values are listed in the centre of the graph and reflect the average EBV’s of current animals within the breed (ie. all 2 year old animals).
• The minimum and maximum EBV values are displayed at the left and right of the graph for each trait represented
• The horizontal bar (shaded/coloured area) displays where the animal is placed in relation to the current animals within the breed for each trait.
• As an illustration of the interpretation of the EBV graph, in the example below the animals 400 Day Wt EBV is of higher accuracy than the Eye Muscle Area EBV (because it’s horizontal bar is much narrower) and so there is less possible change in the 400 Day Wt EBV as additional information becomes available. Conversely, the EMA EBV may change when additional information becomes available.