Cancellation of the National Show and the meeting of the WG Beef Simmental EVF in Brno (CZ)

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am really sorry to inform you that after discussions with the other associations and our partners we had to decide to cancel the National show in Brno which was supposed to took place at the end of April. This is due to the fact that there were confirmed outbrakes of foot-and-mouth disease in Hungary, and today morning also in Slovakia. Brno is not very far from the FMD affected farms in Slovakia and Hungary and the main task now is to protect the Czech farms from the infection. I strongly believe that you have understanding for the fact that Czech breeders are extremely afraid of this situation and they are not willing to take any risks their herds to be infected by FMD.

Based on today's meeting of the committee members, we have come to a clear decision that due to the high concerns of breeders, we are unfortunately unable to organise farm visits. We do not want to endanger the health of Czech herds nor expose you to the risk of introducing the disease abroad.

If the veterinary situation allows, we are looking for opportunities to organise the meeting in an alternative autumn date. Whether it would be only in connection with the official meeting together with the farm-visits, or supplemented by an exhibition, the following weeks and months will show. The situation in Slovakia is currently new to us and we are therefore unable to predict its development right now.

I am sure that you can imagine how we are sorry about those complications, but I firmly believe that you - as breeders - will have full understanding.

In case of any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Kamil Malat, CEO of Czech Beef Cattle Association and host of the planned ESF Beef Simmental meeting in Brno