The show-ring is a neck-tie that we've forgotten to take off...
....and it's slowly choking our industry.
It's got into the sale-ring at bull sale time, and into the cattle-yards when we are making our breeding decisions.
It's pushing us to breed bigger and bigger cattle, when they are already too big; and feed hotter rations when our bulls are already not lasting long enough.
We've got to take it off our necks and not let it choke us any more.
Let us not throw it away - we'll keep it for a few days a year. Wear it for celebrations and when tradition calls for it. We should show our children how to wear it ...but also when to wear it.
Don't wear it in the cattle yards, and leave it at home when you go to a bull sale. We have got to get away from the glitter and hairspray of the cat-walk that our bull sales have become.
....and it's slowly choking our industry.
It's got into the sale-ring at bull sale time, and into the cattle-yards when we are making our breeding decisions.
It's pushing us to breed bigger and bigger cattle, when they are already too big; and feed hotter rations when our bulls are already not lasting long enough.
We've got to take it off our necks and not let it choke us any more.
Let us not throw it away - we'll keep it for a few days a year. Wear it for celebrations and when tradition calls for it. We should show our children how to wear it ...but also when to wear it.
Don't wear it in the cattle yards, and leave it at home when you go to a bull sale. We have got to get away from the glitter and hairspray of the cat-walk that our bull sales have become.