PIGLET NEWS AUTUMM 2015

Transcription

1 The Team at the World Pork Expo, Des Moines, Iowa, 2015 Well we ve had a very busy year. The shows seem to have come and gone fast this year but I know that you ve had a good time and shown really well. The Club has been busy. We kicked off with National Young Show Stars held at the Three Counties showground at the beginning of April.

2 At the beginning of June we took a team to the World Pork Expo in Des Moines Iowa which we hope to repeat with another team next year. We had the Education Centre at Yorkshire which once again proved to be a success. The first Piggy Camp was held at Kate Humbles farm, Humble by Nature, in Monmouth. This is also something we would like to continue with next year. See further information and photos inside. Harper Adams AI course went very well and we hope to continue working with them next year. See the report inside. We will have a Championship this year. A little short notice but it will be held at East of England showground on 11 th October, and all being well we hope this venue will become the home of our Championship. We do not have a sponsor for it this year so prize money will not be as high. You may attend with or without a pig but we do need to know who is attending ASAP with or without pigs so we can sort out what pens we need and how many pigs. More details further on. Countryside Live at Yorkshire held over the weekend of 17 th / 18 th October. Here we will have a workshop and a display. Anyone wishing to attend and help out please let us know. Our final event this year will be English Winter Fair, where our weaner programme is held alongside our sausage making workshop. Dates for this are 21 st and 22 nd November. Well done to William and Charlotte Oliver who not only featured on Blue Peter and helped the presenters at Yorkshire show but trained their Welsh January boar who has had a fabulous season and just won the Welsh Champion of Champions.

3 World Pork Expo - The Americans showing method is totally different from ours. No white coats, no boards, just long whips. They don t go in a clock wise direction, they just stay as close to the judge as possible and find a gap, keeping the pig between them and the judge. Piggy Camp was held at Humble by Nature in Monmouthshire, the club teamed up with the Berkshire club so we had a workshop on the Saturday. We arrived Friday teatime after most of us had been held up in traffic but Amanda Phillips had already set up camp, lit the Pizza oven and was already organized with the kettle on.

4 A very big thank you to Amanda for sorting out the camp and putting up the gazebos. There was a fabulous adventure playground with a zip wire, which was hugely popular. The workshop on Saturday involved Bob Stevenson giving a talk on different diseases and we had a great question and answer session. This was followed by Chris Impey demonstrating de-tusking and notching followed by a feeding talk by Paul Ashcroft. Thank you to all our speakers who made it a very interesting and enjoyable day. Saturday night we had a BBQ followed by a fun time on the park. After breakfast on Sunday it was off canoeing which was great fun but all got very wet. So our first piggy camp a great success and something we would like to work on for next year so if you have any ideas please let us know.

5

6 AI Course at Harper Adams On 25 th August Harper Adams kindly put on an AI course which proved to be a great success. Richard Cooper gave a talk first then it was hands on for all the juniors, all had a sow to AI. Then we had a tour of the pig unit which was fantastic. After lunch there was a brief talk on the different courses they have to offer then we had a tour of the beef and dairy unit. A great day, which everyone enjoyed, something we hope to repeat next year working alongside the university.

7 CHAMPIONSHIPS We have found a home for our Championships this year - East of England showground on the 11 th October. We will have a workshop on the Saturday afternoon for those wanting to attend you must arrive by 12.30pm. Our Championship will be different this year and will comprise solely of a handling class as it has been arranged at short notice and we haven t a sponsor. Next year it is intended to return to three sections. Please let us know by as soon as possible if you are attending with or without pigs. Entry fee will be 5.00 which will go towards prizes. All Champions will receive a hoody with Champion Young Handler Reserves will receive polo shirt (you will be able to select colour and these will be posted out to you.) We do have Trophies and there will be some prize money. For those of you that want to come on the Saturday we are able to camp but there is also a hotel next to the showground so we hope to do something on the Saturday night. Countryside Live Once again we will have a workshop along with a one man and his pig display. If you can attend please send an dates are 17 th /18 th October. Winter Fair Once again we are running our weaner programme. If you haven t got a junior weaner you are still able to compete with your own pigs. Saturday afternoon we will be holding our sausage making competition. Please make sure your membership is up to date. Saturday night we will be having a meal at the Spitfire Premier inn. If you plan to stay you need to book. There are two premier inns opposite on another but the one we use is Spitfire but if this is booked up the Hurricane is just across the road. All weaners will be sold on the Sunday so let s hope we have lots of buyers.

8 Don t forget we still have Mugs and Coasters for sale and they would make perfect Christmas presents. If you have any stories or articles for the newsletter please send them in Photos of your pigs at home. Contact details Tracey gracebank.pigs@yahoo.co.uk Jane patchworkpig@yahoo.co.uk