Top breeder in dispute with BLCS
A respected pedigree livestock breeder has had 45 Limousin calves deregistered and barred from selling at Limousin Society Sales for two years – reportedly to be on the back of a photograph which appeared on social media.
Esmor Evans, Monfa, Wales, first became aware the British Limousin Cattle Society (BLCS) had an issue with his herd in September after his veterinary practice, Evans Vets, posted a photograph of a Limousin cow with tag and new-born untagged calf on Facebook on May 29.
On September 1, he said he received an unexpected email from Alison Glasgow, BLCS technical manager, stating the photographed calf on Facebook did not match that of the cow, Esmors Nesta, which calved at the end of July.
Mr Evans was informed that as a result, an inspection of 50 calves born since May 22, including weighings and DNA, would be required and gave him a list of dates to conduct the proceedings by mid-September. That was a busy time for Mr Evans, who is a working vet managing a busy practice with four other vets, and a farmer with 70 Limousin cows, 130 Charolais, 300 Texels and 60 Charollais, located across four holdings.
The dates proposed – September 13, 14, 16, 20 and 21 – were unsuitable for Mr Evans as he was preparing 160 rams for 12 sales and he was covering the vet practice on a holiday weekend.
On September 8, he emailed BLCS stating that the calf on Facebook did not belong to the cow in the photograph – Esmors Nesta – and that should have been it resolved. This was ignored by the review committee.
He also had a routine cattle ID inspection by the Welsh Government on June 27, along with a routine TB herd test, which verified that Esmors Nesta had not calved.
The next day, he received another email with a request from the BLCS for the identity of the calf in the photograph and its dam, stating the inspection must still go ahead.
On September 13, there was another request from BLCS for post mortem and DNA samples from Nesta, her calf Trawley, as well as the Facebook calf and its dam, should any of them die before inspection. The Facebook calf was already dead – it died on June 1 and was collected by National Fallen Stock. A receipt was sent to the society.
On September 28, Mr Evans was informed that following another committee meeting, he was temporarily suspended from all society business due to failure to carry out herd inspections.
Two other dates proposed, October 4 and 5, were unsuitable as he had arranged to attend the National Charolais show, in France. He proposed a date of October 26, which was not considered by the society but BLCS asked for five dates in November.
Council met again on October 7 and deregistered 46 calves born since May 29, and suspended all society activity for two years with herd inspections at the review committee’s discretion and at a cost of up to £1000.
Society fieldsman, Richard Rettie, carried out a full herd inspection on November 16. This was clear, with no issues an all calf weights were well within limits with Mr Rettie noting Esmors Pwy – the dam of the Facebook calf that had died on June 1 was dry bagged – indicating the calf had died.
That inspection followed two clear Limousin Society herd inspections in 2018 and 2020. The council has since discussed the case at two meetings but failed to remove the sanctions.
“BLCS seem determined to prevent me from selling, even though I have provided them with all the information necessary when initially all they wanted to see the cow and calf in the photograph,” said Mr Evans.
An un-named council member added: “There are only a handful of council members who believe the calves should remain unregistered and Mr Evans should be banned from the society.”
Alice Swift, CEO of BLCS, said: “It is important to understand that criteria for animal registrations to the Limousin Herd Book, are proposed and agreed by the elected farmer reps in the council.
“The Limousin brand standards (by-laws) are essential to protecting the integrity of the breed and are aimed at providing confidence to those who invest in Limousin genetics. Herd inspections, registration criteria and DNA dam and sire verification have all been implemented to protect the Limousin brand.
“I am encouraged to see how far the Limousin Society has come in recent years to grow and maintain confidence in the Limousin herd book.”