2009 World Angus Forum in Canada  -  report

 Over 770 delegates from across the world  ( including many from Ireland and the UK) attended the  recent  2009 World Angus Forum held   from  13th  to  16th July    at the famous show jumping centre at  Spruce Meadows, on the outskirts  of  Calgary in the  province of Alberta, Canada.  The event ,  held every four years , is the “ Olympics of  the Angus breed “  was this year  hosted by the Canadian Angus Association.
 
Thousands of farmers and ranchers from North America  and around the world also attended the show of exhibits and watched the  judging of both red and black pedigree Angus cattle. The shows were transmitted on  live  tv across North America.
Following the official opening by  the Premier of the Alberta , Ed Stelmach. a number of  guest speakers spoke on the  emerging technologies in animal breeding , health and genetics in Angus cattle.

A unique event, in which embryos  ( over 90  from  leading herds in  countries worldwide)  were sent to Canada in  2007, was one of the highlights of the exhibition. The concept  was for a display of genetics from  widely varying environments and market demands all  raised on the one ranch in Canada  ( Remington Ranch). Remington provided the recipient dams for the embryos.  
Twenty  two calves representing  9 countries were presented at the forum. All were born in late May 2008 . There was considerable variation  in the phenotype and performance of the calves.  Scientific papers were presented for future publication.

Among  the World Forum embryo calves on display were one from Ireland  ( Ballinwing Herd) and three from Scotland  (Netherton  Herd).
The Aberdeen Angus Cattle Society facilitated  the importation of these to Canada. . All the embryos were implanted  on  20 August 2007, and the calves were born over 10 days in late May 2008  on Remington  Ranch .  The   WAF calves all have a unique  tattoo and name prefix of WAF.  They will be sold at  the Remington Annual Spring Bull Sale on  2nd March, 2010.

The International Embryo display was one of the primary reasons for many to attend and the cattle from Scotland and Ireland received the most  favourable comments.
The Irish calf  -   WAF Eric 353 U ,was born May 24 2008  on Remington Ranch at Del Bonita, Alberta within a few miles of the USA / Canadian border. He was collected  as an embryo on farm  at Ballinwing Angus Herd , Co Leitrim , by  Genexcel Ireland Ltd  from . Ballinwing Kitty 2nd ,   a 1994 born cow  bred  and  reared  at Ballinwing.   The  sire of this calf ,Jeremy Eric of Bridgefoot, was  a previous Perth  Sale  Champion.   Ballinwing Kitty 2nd has progeny  in Ireland and around the world including Australia, Portugal and Italy.
The genetic dam of  the  three Scottish embryos , Netherton Flora B162 , is currently Irish owned by the  Luddenmore  Herd  in  County Limerick.  The sire of these embryos was  Jerusalem Faraday C071.

 Over 1,000  red and black Angus  cattle went through the judging  rings over   2 days.
 There was also a sale of  live cattle and genetics . A top price of  32,500 dollars  ( 20,800 euros approx) was paid  by  James Arnott  of Cool Herd in  Scotland for a 2009 born heifer calf – the pick of  the crop from the Belvin herd. The sale average was 6,000 dollars (3,800 Euros approx ) on 60 lots..

For more information  visit  www.worldangusforum.com