Redskins from the US fitting in well on the Angus coast

Stabilisers’ suitability to Scotland to be highlighted at Arbroath farm event

An imported “breed” of cattle known as Stabilisers is quietly making its mark on Scottish beef production.

However, the red-skinned animals can easily be mistaken for Luings or Limousins, they rarely reach the auction marts as finished stock and Stabiliser bulls have never changed hands at Stirling.

Purists are suspicious or even dismissive of this composite animal that sells itself on statistics, yet supporters claim it is the fastest growing breed in the UK with more than 10,000 cows in 110 herds.

The Stabiliser’s origins are in a US Department of Agriculture-designed four-way cross that combines Red Angus, Simmental, Gelbveigh and Hereford genetics to produce an animal that benefits from hybrid vigour.

The Yorkshire-based Beef Improvement Grouping Ltd (BIG) owns the Stabiliser trademark in the EU and has been selling the genetics here since 2000.

It is a sleek business model, with individual lines produced in the United States, exported as embryos then multiplied by nucleus breeders in the UK.

Bull sales are also controlled by the breeding company. Sires cost £2,500 to £8,000, with prices based on a bull’s genetic merit, or estimated breeding value (EBV), although bulls are also semen tested and inspected.

Some of the question marks over Stabilisers relate to this tight control over the genetics.

However, the Stabiliser movement is popular in the US, and farmers in the UK who use the cattle swear by their results, particularly in their role as an efficient suckler cow.

Early converts include the Norrie family who farm at Denhead of Arbirlot near Arbroath.

They are so convinced of the breed’s suitability to Scottish conditions they are hosting a farm walk and talk by the breed mastermind, Lee Leachman, next week.

Douglas, Frank and Robin Norrie were among the first in Scotland to import the Stabiliser stock in the late 1990s, originally to use as a maternal line to put to Charolais bulls, but in 2006 they bought a Stabiliser bull and now run a closed herd of 140 animals which includes five bulls.

“We were certainly the furthest north Stabiliser breeder in those early days

and at that time our herd was made up of cows of 57 varieties which we had bought out of auction marts as bulling heifers or with calves at foot,” said Douglas.

“That wasn’t working for us and one of the main reasons was the need to get rid of diseases, particularly BVD and Johne’s disease.

“We joined the Hi-Health Scheme at that time and are now on top of those disease issues.

“One very useful feature of the Stabiliser system is that you can run the herd to pure without losing hybrid vigour or starting to produce calves showing these ‘hidden’ genetic faults that trouble the pure breeds, though the pedigree breeders rarely admit to these problems.”

There aren’t too many beef herds on the Angus coastal strip, but the Norries, who grow cereals, grass, vegetables and potatoes on their 313 acres, also have a 20-acre patch of rough land which needs to be grazed by livestock.

They sell Stabiliser calves as bull beef at 13-14 months old and surplus yearling bulling heifers are marketed for breeding.

They are now developing a small sub-herd of graded-up to “pure” Stabilisers with which they intend to produce bulls for sale under the jurisdiction of the breeding company.

Robin Norrie said he focused primarily on the breed’s genetics and the bottom-line figures, but admitted that it was still important to him to look at a bull’s locomotion and temperament.

“Because we’re in a high health scheme we need to put the stock through the race six or seven times a year so we need animals that are easy to handle,” he said.

“But generally farmers place too much emphasis on the shape and size of bulls. A lot of people focus on good-looking beasts which aren’t always making the money.”

Douglas added: “We used to worry about heifers not being good mothers, but Stabilisers are very maternal.

“Calves have low birth weights of 30-40kg. That means we haven’t had to do a Caesarian in 11 years and very rarely have to get the vet involved at calvings.”

A farm walk and conference will take place at Denhead of Arbirlot, Arbroath, on Monday. Registration is at 4pm followed by a farm walk of the Denhead of Arbirlot herd.

Pictures: Kim Cessford. Some of the Stabiliser cows with calves at foot, at Denhead of Arbirlot, near Arbroath. The red-skinned Stabilisers can easly be mistaken for Luings or Limousins.

Robin Norrie with some of the Stabiliser cows which he and his family breed, selling the calves as bull beef at 13 to 14 months old.