Minutes of the 2008 AGM
Meeting Held on 16th March 2008
Venue: Jobes Barn, Glebe Farm, Ashorne, Warwickshire CV35 9AE
Uploaded May 2008

Present: David \Vebb, Viki Mills,David & Maureen Shaw,Sharon & Lewis Barnfield, Christine Coe, 10 \Yyke5-S~eyd. Tracey Bretherton, Sue Fildes, Brian Merry, John Johnston, Andrew Wells, Paul and Sarah Ashcroft, Finn Henderson-Tang, Mr & Mrs Oliver Stanley, Anna & Sophie Cook .

The meeting opened at 11.30 am and apologies were received from Miranda Squire, Nell & Turlough 0'O'Connor and Chris Penrice.

Matters Arising: Royal Show - The kennel club are taking on the Pig building and a concrete floor is goinging to be laid. The building is to be handed back to the RASE by 21/06/08.

Presidents Report

Firstly I must say what a great honour it was to be re-elected President last year having previously held the Secretary and Treasurers positions for a number of years as well as being a member before that. The Club has been in good hands since its establishment in 1983 and I have had the privelige of knowing most, if not all, of its Officers since then.

Today the Club has a very strong and committed team of members to lead it.

Not only the committee but also members have taken on very important work in the running of the Club and they all deserve our thanks and support for giving their time unreservedly. I believe we all
hare a genuine interest in the promotion and preservation of that very honourable and unique creature-THE BERKSHIRE PIG- no matter how big or small our enterprise.

There have been times, many times, especially before Rare Breed meat became so popular, when our own financial interests came secondary to the interests of preserving and furthering the Breed and as we could only really trade with other like minded enthuisiasts, our commercial outlets were very limited. The tide has turned now that a discerning public have discovered the real meat qualities of our Rare and Traditional Breeds. However as you now know we face a number of new challenges, as do other Rare Breed keepers and commercial livestock farmers in the wider world, the cost of feed stuff and fuel being just two of them.

Waitrose Pork: We, as a Breed Society, are very concerned by the introduction by Waitrose of what they describe in their leaflets as "Waitrose Free range Berkshire breed pork" which has provoked heated debate on their web-site, the River Cottage web-site and elsewhere.

In my opinion there is a considerable difference between their reply to our letter, the detailed responses on their web-site and the leaflets provided where their pork is sold. Waitrose regard as negatives a number of the characteristics that are fundamental to the taste and popularity of real Berkshire Pork .They have now made it clear in their letter and in answers to questions on their web­site what their product is and have stated that their choice of Landrace and Duroc sows is because Rare Breeds are not suitable for large scale commercial production, as they are slow growing, have poorer carcass yields and a higher tendency to store excess fat. Waitrose have also stated that at the time they chose to use Canadian boars there were no boars in the U.K. that had the high health status required by Waitrose and their veterinary advisors. If that was the case our reputation as exporters of pedigree breeding stock to countries like Japan, whose health standards are also extremely high, must be severely damaged.

David Webb

Chairman's Report

2007 was a year fraught with difficulty on all fronts. The Shows, always a great shop window for our Berkshire breed, were either. due to the unprecedented wet weather & floods, staged in appalling conditions, like at the Royal, or cancelled altogether.

As the flood waters receded we were hit by the Foot and Mouth outbreak in Surrey. The movement restrictions imposed as a result of this disaster, for which we can only blame the Government's lack of bio-security, caused enormous problems for our members which lasted for many months. All the remaining shows of the season were cancelled, including Newbury with our very own Berkshire Champion of Championship event.

During the same period pig feed prices escalated and there were very really concerns as to what effect all of this would have on our total breed numbers. With all this in mind, both the Berkshire Club and the BPA lobbied the RBST not to change the classifications of any of the breeds on the RBST Watchlist. I would like to thank Dawn Teverson, Conservation Officer and the other RBST Council members involved for their support. The Berkshire remains in the same category for 2008.

As the year drew to a close the BP A embarked on the long overdue Bloodline survey for all its breeds. Although this was sent out initially by the BPA office as always there was much chasing and following up to be done, which I took on for the Berkshires. I would like to thank Jo, who had done the previous Berkshire surveys, for her help in chasing up some of the non replies. This was the first time that breed surveyors were able to complete surveys for people directly on line and I think this made things much easier.

The end results due to be published shortly in the BP A newsletter and on the web site are surprisingly encouraging. 154 registered boars (97 in 2004) 656 registered females (382 in 2004) Of the 656 registered females 390 are shown as having had birth notified litters. It is likely that not all the remaining 266 females are maiden gilts but may have been cross bred, or had litters that were not birth notified. 182 BP A members are keeping registered Berkshire pigs as opposed to 153 in 2004. This figure shows that there is further scope for recruitment for the Club. The main purpose of the survey was to finally remove "dead" pigs from the BPA Herdbook data base and this has now been done. It will make updating the figures in future surveys much easier and the 2008 survey will be carried out in late September this year.

Completing the bloodline surveys and having accurate Herd book information means that the bloodlines within the Berkshire breed can be analysed in more detail. This is planned as a joint venture between the BP A and the RBST, and Dawn Teverson and Rex Walters gave presentations explaining the benefits of this at a recent meeting of the BP A Pedigree committee. It will take some time for all the breeds to be analysed but following the Berkshire breed analysis, hopefully later this year, we will then arrange a meeting for Club members and breeders to look at the results with Dawn and Rex.

Our President has already talked about the situation over the Waitrose "Berkshire" pork, and you should all have received a letter from me about this.As you can imagine this has taken up a great deal of time for all the members of the Berkshire Club committee, and I would particularly like to thank Chris Coe, who has acted as our public relations co-ordinator and spokesperson on this. She has given up a great deal of time and her expertise in dealing with corporate bodies, such as Waitrose, has been invaluable. She has kindly agreed to Chair the discussion on this whole subject later in this meeting.

Viki Mills

Secretary's Report

It was a bad year for all concerned within the farming community, most of the seasons shows were cancelled, including Newbury and our own Champion of Champions.

It has been decided to allow last year's qualifiers to come forward for this year if they want to.

Sharon Barnfield and Viki Mills are getting quotes for a run of calendars to help boo funds. D-ye and Maureen Shaw are setting up a 200 club again to help raise funds details to go into neXt newsletter. ew leaflets have been printed out of a grant from the RBST and are being distributed. We are also looking at reusable bags to publicise the Berkshire Breed.

Gillhouse Trophy was won by Tracy Bretherton, with Wedlock Louise; runner up was Brian Merry with Higherc1iffe Louise and in equal third Sharon Barnfield and Kilcot Mermaid and David Yates with Dittisham ama Abel.

Sharon Barnfield

Treasurers Report
The treasurer reported that several cheques have bounced this time which has cost the club money so will look again at Direct Debit.. We are not being charged for the accounts. (see attached)

Election of Officers
Lewis Barnfield proposed that the committee are elected en block, seconded by Maureen Shaw. The only change which was agreed in 2007 being Tracy Bretherton taking over from Jo Wykes Sneyd as Membership Secretary.

Waitrose
Chirstine Coe took the chair for a full and frank discussion among those present concerning the current situation regarding Wasitrose's "Berkshire" pork. The Club President and Chairman, together with Christine Coe as Club spokesperson were due to meet with Waitrose on 7th April. Suggestions and proposals from the AGM helped clarify the issues to be raised at this meeting, when more transparency in the wording of Wait rose' s promotional material would be sought. A number of actions that could be implemented in the event of the negotiations with Waitrose being unsuccessful, were also discussed.

Any Other Business
Surveys: Lew Barnfield asked if the survey information could be circulated in the old forma, which contained the names and addresses of all breeders involved .. Viki said that it was being looked at but it would not be able to include BP A members who had not signed the relevant clause under the Data Protection rules.

Password: The password for members on the Berkshire Club web site will be changed after the next newsletter has gone out.

Show and Sale: An RBST National Show & Sale of all species does not appear to be any further forward. Viki Mills suggested the Club should keep up pressure on the Trust to get this back on the table again.

BPA Sale: Christine Cole and David Webb agreed to act as inspectors for the Berkshire breed and check pigs forward are up to standard.

Royal Show: The BP A has asked for Berkshire Club members to assist with the BPA stand at the Royal Show. The RBST have asked for Berkshire Pigs and Berkshire meat for the RBST stand at the Royal. Champion of Champions The Chairman to talk to PG Wodehouse about further sponsorship.

Thanks were given to Chris and Kev for making us so welcome and to Lyn for all her hard work with the catering.

The meeting closed at 2.50pm