Dear member,
Following a recent meeting of the Society Council I am writing with an update on plans for Society sales this summer and autumn.
At the time of writing, plans for the Society’s Premier Sale at Worcester on August 8th are continuing as normal, with entry forms soon to be made available via the Society’s website.
It is likely there will be some changes to the format of the sale, with it being unlikely that there will be a pre-sale show to allow compliance with social distancing rules and prospective buyers are probably going to have to register with the auctioneers in advance.
It is also possible there will be restrictions on the number of people able to attend with each consignment of sheep and also as potential buyers. Current restrictions at commercial breeding stock sales are that only one person per household/business should attend to buy stock.
A further update will be available as the situation develops and following further liaison with the auctioneers.
The Society’s involvement with the Traditional Breeds Sale at Melton Mowbray is expected to take an altogether different format. At the time of writing the indication from the organisers is that this sale is likely to be run in an online format as a timed auction.
The finer details of this are yet to be agreed by the organisers, but previous vendors and purchasers have been asked, by survey, for their views and preferences.
Again, once further details are available the Society will issue an update to all members. The Council, following requests from members, also discussed upset prices at Society sales and made the following changes.
At the Worcester Premier Sale the upset price for shearling ewes has been increased to 185gns. At the Melton Mowbray Sale the upset price for shearling ewes has been reduced to 160gns and the upset price for ewe lambs has been reduced to 120gns.
In the meantime, the Society’s Council has recently agreed to make changes to the For Sale and Wanted section of the Society’s website.
As such, the current £10 advert has been enhanced and members may now submit one photograph to accompany their advert. The £10 advert now extends to 475 characters of text, including spaces, and may include any relevant information.
Additional lines of text (no more than 125 characters including spaces) may be purchased for £3/line and additional photographs can be added for £3/photograph.
The Society reserves the right to modify and/or reject adverts which do not meet the criteria outlined above.
Where breeders wish, they may also submit a private catalogue of their animals for sale in pdf format to be included with their advert at a cost of £25. All catalogues must include wording which indemnifies the Society.
Plans for the Society’s AGM in September are also currently under review and the possibility of a ‘virtual’ AGM by video conference call is being investigated. Members will be updated as soon as a decision has been made and plans are firmed up.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank members for their ongoing support of the Society in these unprecedented times and I look forward to seeing many of you when restrictions allow.
Best wishes,
Jonathan Long
Chairman of Council.
