Orkney breeder Michael Cursiter has been elected as chairman of the British Limousin Cattle Society (BLCS) following the society’s annual general meeting in Leamington Spa.

He takes over from John Phillips who served as chairman for a three-years.

Mr Cursiter, who has been the society’s Scottish regional representative for nine years, together with his wife Ruth, run the Lagas Limousin herd from their farm in Evie on the island of Orkney. He joined the BLCS in 1994 when the pedigree herd was established.

Laga Farm is a family run business, which as well as the pedigree herd consists of a commercial cattle enterprise, a sizeable sheep flock and a children’s nursery. Of the 1700 acres of land, which is a mixture of pasture and rough grazing, the family own 700 acres and rent the remaining 1000.

A well-known Orcadian, Michael has held many local office posts over the past 20 years, while nationally he has served as director of NFU Scotland, and Hi-Health Ltd, which was Scotland's largest and only farmer led cattle health scheme.

Commenting on his election Mr Cursiter said: “I will be working hard with the council and its members to sustain and build upon the outstanding achievements of the past three years. In line with the Breed Improvement Plan, further development of the breed and adding value through new breeding technologies as they become available, will remain at the heart of the work we do”. He added: “The early results from the feed efficiency project indicate there is a financial opportunity for producers to exploit. I will continue to place emphasis on robust communication and promotion of messages like this to every level of the industry so that this kind of research is translated into real, tangible outcomes for members and commercial producers”.

Brian Lear, who runs the Turville herd at Creslow, Buckinghamshire, was elected vice chairman. In addition, Jonathan Watson of the Tweedale herd, Berwick-upon-Tweed, is a new face to the council of management having been elected national representative.