About the Club

Our story

Linking practical cattle breeding with science since 1946

The British Cattle Breeders Club was founded in 1946 by the late Sir John Hammond, the pioneering Cambridge animal scientist, with a simple conviction: that the best breeding decisions are made when farmers and scientists talk to each other as equals.

Nearly eighty years on, that conviction still drives everything the Club does. We are a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee, run by a volunteer committee drawn from across the industry. Our members include dairy and beef farmers, pedigree and commercial breeders, vets, geneticists, students and researchers from throughout the UK and beyond.

Each January we host the British Cattle Conference in Telford, three days of science, discussion and debate that bring the latest breeding research within reach of the farmgate. The papers from every conference are written up in plain language and published as our Digests, a library of practical breeding knowledge that now stretches back across eight decades.

What the Club stands for

• Sharing breeding science in plain, practical language
• Connecting researchers, vets and working breeders
• Encouraging the next generation into cattle breeding
• Promoting innovation and best practice across the industry

The Club is proudly independent and welcomes members and non-members alike to its events.

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