The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Farmer and son team’s breeding success
LIVESTOCK: Father and son from Newton of Logierait are to fore in field
Perthshire father and son team John and Craig Robertson from Newton of Logierait have built up a reputation for breeding some of the best commercial calves in the country.
Over the last decade the duo has produced champion winners and sale leaders at the Royal Northern Spring Show (RNSS) and the Thainstone Spectacular, and calves from the 170-cow herd have gone on to win nearly every premier show in the UK.
At the Spring Show in 2017 the family set an RNSS record of £9,000 when they sold six calves to average £4,408.30, while their pre-sale champion at Carlisle in March 2019 sold for £8,000.
Other Logierait calves have sold to £7,800 for their champion heifer at the RNSS in 2018, as well as £6,000 at the Spectacular in 2017. This was for Jon Snow – a bullock which went on to stand reserve overall champion at the Borderway Agri-Expo, Carlisle.
Another Logierait calf which sold for £3,000 at the Spring Show won seven championships in the south of the UK for Lin Pidsley, Devon, while a £3,500 heifer purchased by Wilson Peters, Monzie, Crieff, stood champion at several local shows, took first prize at the Royal Highland Show and was champion at LiveScot 2018.
“The Royal Northern Spring Show is our main market for selling and showing our best calves, and the success we have achieved over the years has given us the momentum to continue in what we do,” said Craig, who farms 1,000 acres near Pitlochry in partnership with his father John and John’s sister Margaret.
Newton of Logierait has been in the family since 1891 and is home to a herd of Limousin and British Blue cross cows, and a flock of 740 breeding ewes, 150 of which are Blackfaces and the remainder Texel crosses and Mules.
Around 80 acres of spring barley is grown each year for feed.
Quality in the suckler herd is improved by using a variation of stock bulls and keeping 15 to 20 home-bred heifers as replacements each year.
“Most of our cows are home-bred although we do buy in the odd show heifer or a cow with calf at foot,” said Craig.
“The ideal cow for us is a threequarters Limousin with a bit of British Blue breeding in her.”
Cows in the spring-calving herd calve from mid-March, while back-end cows calve from August/September through to December. They are fed ad-lib silage and receive draff from a local distillery.
Calves from the autumn herd are left on their mothers through to the following July to keep the condition off cows for calving, and the progeny from the spring herd is weaned either in November or December.
“Limousin stock bulls are usually bought privately and they must have a good top and plates with plenty character and style,” said Craig.
“We don’t ever use figures when selecting a bull. It’s the bloodlines and the bull itself that we buy on.”
The 4,800gns Powerhouse Harlequin, which was bought as an 18-month-old bull, and Calogale Irresistible have sired the four top-priced calves in recent years, selling at £9,000, £7,800, £6,050 and £6,000.
Other noted bulls are the 13,000gns Whinfellpark Iago, bought privately from the Norman Limousin herd, and British Blue bull Strathbogie Kansas. He sired the £8,000 calf at Carlisle, which sold to Blair Duffton, Huntly and Dermot and Gareth Small.
This year’s line-up for the Spring Show from Logierait includes seven heifers and two bullocks.