Dexter Cattle For Sale Discussion Board

Phatcows · Post by **Phatcows** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 7:31 pm

Being in a FMD surveillance area i felt it was wise not to attend the AGM this year.Therefore i`m hoping someone can tell me how it went,who got onto council, any resignations, any other interesting points etc.I`m looking forward to hearing from any of you

natmadaboutdexters · Post by **natmadaboutdexters** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 8:43 pm

We didn't make it to the AGM either, so hope that someone can give a brief summary of what when on and who won the heifer in the raffle? Hope it was a good meeting.
Natasha

Post by **Mark Bowles** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 9:40 pm

Mervyn Mountjoy and Mary Kay got elected to council.
I am sure the council would say the meeting went well, no arguments or falling out, not that i know of anyway!
Sorry Nat, you didnt win the heifer, i think it was someone from Yorkshire.
Very interesting talk by Prof Bruford on the genetics. They couldnt come up with a dna marker for the dexter, so that was a waste of time, but the makeup of the dexter breed was shown and was very enlightening. You had to be there to get the picture, trust me!
Mark

Duncan MacIntyre · Post by **Duncan MacIntyre** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 11:56 pm

There were probably four separate sections to the AGM - Professor Bruford's talk, the actual AGM, presentations of lots of pictures both printed and on screen to try to compensate for the lack of herd visits, and the social programme.

Professor Brufords talk was indeed interesting, and gives much food for thought. Like a lot of investigative research it probably raises more questions than it answers, and when the full info is published it may be easier for us all to have copies of much that we were told on Saturday and put more thought into what it means and how we can use it. Like Mark I had hoped that one outcome might be ease of identifiying Dexte meat, but due to the diversity of the DNA within the breed this seems to be difficult. However use of sire DNA might provide a means of certifying that meat is in fact what it claims to be so there may be other means to do that. I think what is needed is a lot of careful thought and reflection on the information before we really appreciate its full significance. We probably need a separate page to discuss this issue.

As Mark says the actual AGM went very smoothly, with the election winners being announced and George Godber "installed" as President and Fiona Miles as Vice President, congratulations to all. Thanks are also due to the unsuccessful candidates in the election, let us hope that their enthusiasm will not be dampened, as this is the first year we have had an election for some time due to shortage of candidates.

There was a wonderful display of photos of Dexters past and present, and Stephanie had brought along a huge display of pictures of the Woodmagic herd taken this season. Unfortunately the lap top on which they were running seemed to take the huff and we did not see as many as we wanted. Mervyn gave us a good look on screen at his herd, both the show team and the others, all looking very good. I brought a presentation of pictures of the Grinstead herd, owned by Lady Loder, mostly taken in the 1920 - 1940 era, which I had been sent from Australia. In the course of the day I learned from Carol Davidson how they had got to Australia, after she had rescued them from the floor of a back room at the Leonarslee stables. Carol was able to tell us that Reading University, which last year had appeared to be the likely home for her own unrivalled collection of Dexter photos and memorabilia, was no longer able to take the collection. Members were asked for suggestions of suitable places where this wonderful collection can be both preserved and accessible in UK.

The evening was devoted to honing our skills at skittles, first time some of us had played and it certainly showed. Amongst the teams of six the Northern Ninjas distinguished themselves by coming last, despite a dramatic opening throw which sadly was unrepeatable.

All in all a good day was had thanks to Mervyn and the Devon Group who assisted. It is always a good chance to meet old faces and new ones too. It is a pity that circumstances may have kept some individuals away, feeling that they might present a risk to others in these difficult times. Our thoughts go to those close to the disease outbreaks this summer.

Duncan

(finally got back to the shores of Bute this morning, total distance covered over the weekend 1122 miles, thanks to the passengers who paid for the diesel and saved me listening to the radio.)

Ted Neal · Post by **Ted Neal** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 9:48 am

Re agm
I resigned from Council after the election; but it wasn't announced
Ted Neal

Woodmagic · Post by **Woodmagic** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 11:50 am

Not being able to attend I found the various reports useful. However, there is one item that doesn’t seem to have surfaced, which will be of considerable interest to any overseas readers, our Secretary has listened, and ‘Grass Roots’ is now available to anyone. All you folks who want to look up the pedigrees of animals that began life in Britain can now go ahead, simply click onto ‘Grass Roots’ on the official DCS site and their history is open to you.

Jo Kemp · Post by **Jo Kemp** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 6:42 pm

I enjoyed the wekend hugely. We met Saffy for the first time (of many in the future I hope) she is great fun

There were rather too many comments to Duncan about survival for hours with three females ..... we were all very grateful to him for driving all those miles and also didn't notice the lack of radio sounds!
The evening skittles were hilarious and the sound of the 'big rubber balls' was reminiscent of Potter's Tom Kitten being rolled into a pie by Samuel Whiskers!
The photos were most impressive and it was good to note that the present Dexter herd has the same genetic stamp as the 'old' Dexters.
Also two herds were distinct Woodmagic and Ypsitty so if tim could do the next stage and analyse these it would be wonderful but time is running out so ...
It is unlikely that we shall find a marker for Dexter beef but on the up side nor can the Angus as they too are fairly diverse so perhaps the Angus Soc will discover another way to go .... ?
The big upside is that our wee cattle are equiped to keep healthy, shake off or avoid diseases and hopefully will adapt to climate change! Fantastic

Phatcows · Post by **Phatcows** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 7:16 pm

Ted i`m sorry to hear that you`ve resigned.You will be a great loss to the council.Were there any particular reasons for your resignation?

Post by **Mark Bowles** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 8:20 pm

Ted, had you resigned before the AGM, as you werent there to resign after! How many resignations and reinstatements has there been this year? Something always seems to be cracking off, its about time there was a little more harmony.
Mark

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 6:48 am

Lack of harmony. What's it all about?

Saffy · Post by **Saffy** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 9:32 am

Hello everyone. :D

Chris and I would like to thank everyone we met during the weekend and at the AGM for making it such an interesting weekend for us. Our initiation was not at all a painful one!

I must apologise for the stroppy behaviour of my geriatric laptop. It was not impressed with foreign travel at its great age and behaved very badly! Whilst it showed a fair few of the 400 odd photos I took of The Woodmagic Herd this summer during the morning, it stumbled some way into the afternoon and went on strike.

Having read a post earlier in this thread by Duncan I realise some of you may want to see more pics of the herd. I have no problem sending a CD of them to anyone in the UK who would like a look. Let me know if you saw some, most or none, so I know what to send you.

It was a great pleasure to meet you all for the first time, I rather think dexter keepers are maybe a little like thier dexters fiesty and fun?! ???

Stephanie

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 9:43 am

Stephanie

If you want to select up to say 60 of the best Woodmagic ones and stick them on a CD to me, I'll put them in a web slide show. Would only take a few minute then anyone in the world can have a look. I don't think I can realistically do 400 though. Up to you, no probs.

Saffy · Post by **Saffy** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 9:56 am

Thats Brilliant Clive. Thanks!!!

PM me your address please. Is that Ok with Woodmagic?

Stephanie

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 11:17 am

I've sent an email to you and Beryl.

Saffy · Post by **Saffy** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 1:05 pm

Clive,

Yes it is OK with both Beryl and myself, we are very pleased for the much needed techie type help!!!

Will sort them a little and send them on ASAP.

Stephanie