Report by Henry Lewis MLC
For the first time there was a British
presence at the biennial International Agribex exhibition in
Brussels from 10 to 15 February 2004. This was thanks to IATC support. It
was held at the Brussels Expo Centre (Heizel), (now showing signs
of its age, dating back to the World Fair in 1956). The stand was
coordinated by the British Livestock Genetics Consortium with Holstein
UK.
This major international event covers farm equipment and
machinery, service industries and livestock. Machinery exhibitors
were a major
part of the event. There were classes and demonstration pens for
sheep and pigs and the Friday 13th was the day for sheep and pig
judging competitions. Show animals for the latter were held in
crates and the show sheep were tied up. Of these, Hampshire Downs,
Suffolks
and Texels predominated but others such as Bleu de Maine and Ile
de France also featured. Pigs included the white breeds (Large
White and Landrace) and Pietrain. No pig breeding companies participated
but there was considerable interest in the British sheep and pig
breed posters on the stand and a supply of BPA ‘Modern pig
breeding’ leaflets was taken very rapidly.
Horses featured in events on the Wednesday 11th (competitions and
demonstrations) and draft horses on Sunday 15th.
The beef cattle focus was understandably on the Belgian Blue (National
Show on the Tuesday 10th). There were also representations of Blonde
d’Aquitaine, Charolais and Limousin cattle, with their competitions
on the Wednesday 11th. British Belgium Blue cattle society representatives
participated.
Red and White dairy cattle also featured on the Wednesday 11th
and British Ayrshire Cattle Society representatives also participated.
The climax of the week was the ‘All European Holstein
Championship’ on
the Saturday 14th. Member countries (eg. Austria, France, Germany,
Ireland, Italy, Switzerland, Spain etc) participated, each with
demonstration groups of 10 cows. The Irish investment (reportedly
E30,000 to fly
the cattle in) paid off with them winning the team and individual
competitions. There were non-commercial shell stands for the members
and the British presence was under this arrangement. Commercial
stands would cost much more.
All the major European and North American cattle breeding organisations
had stands there. (A representative of the USLGE [the BLG equivalent]
said this was the most important European event that they attended.)
ABS (Genus) had their own stand, Cogent operated from the British
stand.
The profile of the week’s activities in the way that the daily
focus moved through different breeds and species made it very ‘user
friendly’.
Those working the show and using the stand included:
British Blue Cattle Society – Chief Executive, Chairman
and some 12 breeders.
Ayrshire Cattle Society – Chief Executive, Chairman and breeders
Cogent - International Director and three from
their European team.
Holstein UK – President, Chairman, Marketing, PR and Breed
Development officers and breeders.
MLC – Export Manager
BLG - Executive Manager
Conclusion
Good international contacts were made and business leads established
from as far afield as Mexico. British attendees acknowledged the
valuable role of BLG in coordinating the platform for British organisations
to operate from and the value in their participation, feeling that ‘the
time is now’ for a marketing effort for British livestock
genetics.
Nevertheless there is considerable frustration that our European
competitors are able to trade and export breeding cattle whilst
the UK is denied this opportunity. A keen demand is anticipated
when
the barriers come down because of the quality and range of our
cattle, but as a potential threat to them, spoiling tactics from
other countries
might be anticipated. (It was learned subsequently at SIA that
some EU countries have been having such a good run on exports to
Central
Europe and the Mediterranean basin that they are ‘sold out’.)
One of the reasons for attendance was to assess this event as a
venue for promoting British cattle (beef and diary breeds) at the
next
edition in 2006, assuming that we will then be able to export them
once again. The answer to this is a definite yes.
The support of IATC is greatly appreciated.
Henry Lewis
MLC
26th February 2004 |
