Limousin bull inquiry deepens as grave consequences sink in

Almost four months have passed since it was confirmed that one of the top Limousin bulls might not have had the pedigree that was once claimed for him.

The ramifications from that are still tattling around the breed society and the consequences for the UK’S most popular beef breed will affect breeders the length and breadth of the country.

Back in early May concerns were raised by producers who had bought semen straws from Ballinloan Jaegerbomb and other Ballinloan bulls and who had used them in their own herds.

Amid claims from these breeders that their pedigree animals were devalued by sums of up to hundreds of thousands of pounds as a consequence, the police were called in to investigate whether there had been any fraudulent activity.

This was confirmed in early June with Police Scotland stating they were investigating “a fraud involving valuation and pedigree status of cattle originating in the Tayside area”. Now almost three months later, the investigation is still ongoing, thus confirming the depth and range of the enquiries.

Earlier this week Police Scotland stated: “We are liaising with relevant agencies and affected parties have been contacted by Police Scotland in order to further our investigation.”

No one at the British Limousin Cattle Society was prepared to comment on the case with the chief executive Iain Kerr being, in the words of the chairman of the society, Michael Cursitor, Orkney, “on leave”.

Cursitor, in his own quiet and determined way, did confirm that the society had prepared plans to prevent similar problems happening in the future.

It is known that several prominent breeders are very keen to dramatically tighten up registration requirements.

The Ballinloan case will reverberate through the breed for years to come as generations of Jaegerbomb’s offspring are incorrectly in the pedigree system