The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Audrey well positioned
Panmure-prefixed cattle bound for Ingliston
For many livestock and equestrian families, the Royal Highland Show is not simply a tradition – it’s an institution.
It’s just such an indescribably natural part of their life that will very rarely, if indeed ever, be missed.
And that’s certainly the case for cattle breeders JM Cant and Partners, who have produced pedigree livestock under the Panmure prefix outside the small village of Arbirlot, near Arbroath, for the last 50 years.
“I’ve been showing at the Highland for as long as I can actually remember; certainly since I was in my early teens,” said Audrey Anderson, who has taken over at the helm of Easter Knox Farm following the loss of her father Alex last year.
“It meant a lot to dad – he showed and judged there throughout his farming career. I can’t actually think of a single year that we wouldn’t have been there,” she added.
“It’s hard to put a finger on what exactly makes it so special – it just is.”
Hereford cattle were originally added to a fold of commercial cattle at Easter Knox, which had formed part of the wider Panmure Estate, back in the late 1960s. And, although the move was actually instigated on somewhat of a whim by Audrey’s mother Jessie, who took a fancy to the attractive looks and nature of the native breed, the cattle quickly became a lifelong love for Alex.
He established the herd with a handful of select purchases, not least Cheviot Lilac, Lily, Plum and Blessing, from Dennis Wilson, at Primside Mill, Kelso, and in doing so ensured the family business of JM Cant and Partners quickly became synonymous with success in the breed.
Cheviot Lily ultimately progressed to stand champion at Angus Show on no less than five successive occasions and on these solid foundations, the Panmure name has never yet looked back in the Hereford show ring.
“Despite years of success across the Hereford section, with junior, female, male, pairs and even reserve champion wins, the overall breed title at the Royal Highland actually proved elusive to us for many years,” said Audrey.
“It wasn’t until 2006 that we finally went all the way and took the overall Hereford championship – and I think everyone was taken aback a little that it was our first breed supreme at Ingliston. Everyone assumed we had won it plenty of times previously.”
That year, Alex and Audrey’s title holder was stockbull Solpoll 1 Brigadier, which they had purchased from current Northern Ireland Hereford Breeders Association chairman John Mcmordie, of Solitude Farm, Ballygowan, Newtownards.
“We’re a closed herd, so the only animals we buy in are stockbulls. We go to Hereford in April and October to buy and sell, but only breed our own females,” said Audrey, who took over the management of the Panmure pedigree cattle during that momentous 2006 season, which culminated in the family winning UK Hereford Herd of the Year.
During Alex’s earliest foray into the Hereford breed, he bucked the then ‘fashionable’ trend of smaller females in favour of heifers with more scale and bone and, according to Audrey, this decision has since stood them in very good stead.
She said she has continued to breed for stronger, modern and ultimately more commercial cattle, all while retaining the docile nature for which the breed is famed.
Audrey has scaled back numbers to a 16-head of cows plus followers, allowing her to cope during the times her husband Neil is offshore for work.
“I breed for size and shape. I guess you could say that I want it all,” said Audrey.
“But I like my cows to have bone and be powerful, to walk well with good locomotion.”
Both Audrey and daughter Abbie, a third-year veterinary student at Edinburgh University, who helps out with the show team during breaks from her studies, confessed they actually prefer to show bulls – finding themselves far pickier about their females.
Despite years of success across the Hereford section, the overall breed title at the Royal Highland actually proved ellusive for many years. AUDREY ANDERSON