Winter 2016 Luing Newsletter

Thanks for posting this Mike!

well done Iain. Nice to read something that is informative without bragging. Really like how you price your breeding stock and thoughts on showing.

Great read and issues that face beef cattle farmers the world over are addressed. The disconnect between urban dwellers and where their food comes from is real and has been brought into stark view by a recent campaign by a VEGAN organisation masquerading as an animal rights/welfare group's attack on dairying in NZ - NZ is basically one big farm with a handful of major cities - imagine rural folks surprise then when there was a general outpouring of urbanite rage at the thought that "baby calves" are dragged away from their "grieving mummies" so they could have their glass of milk. How did this ignorance creep in - obviously the farmer representatives and lobby groups who happily take levy money every year have dropped the ball big time - 'cos everyone knows that calves are reared away from the cows in a working milking herd ................... right????!

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well done Iain

My sentiments as well.

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How did this ignorance creep in

All things considered, inevitable and certainly not surprising.

What is most helpful and informative is a practitioner interpreting research results without trying to sell a proprietary cure? State the findings, tell how it works in the real world, tie it all together and we have a real educational experience. Thanks.

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obviously the farmer representatives and lobby groups who happily take levy money every year have dropped the ball big time

Correct me if I'm out in left field (pardon the pun, emphasis on left) but its patently naive and more than a little danergous to place your faith in anyone other than yourself.

Thanks for the comments folks.

larkota, its not so much my thoughts on showing as those of the guys that started our breed in the 1940s. They were so disillusioned with the commercial unsuitability of the purebred breeds at that time and they blamed this largely on the breeders following the "fads and fashions" of the show ring. So they turned away from that and build their own cattle population to better fulfil commercial requirements and laid the ground rule that there was to be no showing of Luing cattle.

Different times but the same old problems. I think their experiences were much the same as many of the posters on here have had on their own journeys. It has always made Keeneys Corner and the philosophies shared here an easy fit for me anyway.