The Dealer was in Elphin at the weekend keeping an eye out for a cheap bull at the annual Charolais Christmas cracker sale. The sale has built up a name of having the best quality bulls in the country and didn’t disappoint with some excellent bulls forward for sale. But The Dealer wondered if it was appropriate for the new beef plan movement to speak from the rostrum for 10 minutes to a packed ringside just before Tom Cox opened the sale about the state the beef industry was in and how farmers were losing money. As a confidence booster to wave the finger one more time, I could think of better ways of encouragement.

Meanwhile, I was interested to hear that the Charolais and Simmental societies boycotted the ICBF genetics conference on Wednesday.