AJR Farms aim to do the double
PRODUCING functional, productive and correct cattle that go on to dominate both the show and sale ring within one breed is challenging enough, but to be able to achieve success across two breeds is exactly what the team of Andrew Reid and David Stubbs of AJR Farms, Ellon, Aberdeenshire are managing to accomplish.
In 2017, 300 acres at North Craigieford and the already well established Logie Aberdeen-Angus herd were added to AJR Farms’ existing operation with Andrew joining as herd manager. Andrew is ably assisted by his son, also Andrew, and junior stockman, James MacIver.
With Andrew being a keen advocate of pedigree Charolais cattle, having worked with the breed for some 30 years, the business then founded its own Newlogie herd in 2017 with the purchase of half a dozen cows which now totals some 35 breeding females plus followers.
The Logie Angus herd comprises 100 calving cows plus followers.
When it comes to building numbers and improving overall herd quality, one of the most important aspects is the purchase of a good bull and David and Andrew have high standards in the choice of potential future stock sires
“When it comes to buying in stock, we are looking for something that is correct – good locomotion, good on it’s legs and presence are all factors in our decision making,” explained Andrew.
“One of the best bulls that we have purchased to date would be the now sixyear-old Charolais, Maerdy Morwr, which was bought privately from Esmor Evans, Mold, Flintshire, Wales for £25,000.
“He is a machine of a bull and has left his stamp on the calves coming through the herd,” David stated, adding that Morwr stood beef interbreed champion at this year’s Royal Highland Show, as well as inter-breed supreme at the Great Yorkshire last year.
“Another notable Charolais bull would be Newlogie Nobel purchased for €17,500. This bull had correctness and was easy fleshing, with his pen of calves being the best I have ever seen by one bull,” Andrew commented.
Within the Angus herd, one of the more notable purchases would be the stock bull, Blelack Prince Cornelius – the sire of this year’s Stirling Bull Sales entry – as well as Blelack Ever Creole which was purchased last year.
“We liked the style and family bloodline with this bull, as well as his easy fleshing traits. He is also proving to be a good worker having served 17 cows in his first season, 20 heifers in the back end of last year and then 35 cows this spring,” stated David.
Having ensured that they are investing in quality to begin with, Andrew and David are enjoying success on the credit side too having sold their dearest Charolais bull to date, Newlogie Ringmaster, for £12,000 privately to Adrian Ivory, Strathisla, Perthshire, back in May.
The team also made £10,000 for Newlogie Recognition privately to Chapman Farms.
Highest priced bull sold to date within the Angus herd
would be Logie Defiance, which stood reserve overall at the Stirling Bull Sales in 2019 and went under the hammer at 13,000gns when selling to the Allen family, of the Stouphill herd, Northumberland.
Although the two breeding herds are kept separate, both are managed on a similar system with bulls heading out to the cows in May and October.
The bulk of the cows are calved indoors in the spring, with heifers calving in the back end at just under threeyears-old for the Charolais and two and a half-years for the Aberdeen-Angus heifers. All heifers are then moved into the main spring-calving group the following year.
“We want our cows out in the spring to make the most of the grass for milk production. We are reasonably strict with our bulling period, but we’d rather have the odd cow calving at a later date if need be than not in-calf at all,” Andrew explained.
From bulling through to calving, all cows are left on grass or fed silage if there is a shortage of grazing, avoiding concentrates to ensure they are not overweight when it comes to calving.
“The cattle receive minerals all year round but we try and avoid concentrates on the run up to calving as we don’t want our cattle to be pushed or endure any calving problems later down the line. There’s a fine line between a fit animal and a fat animal,” David added.
As well as natural service, Andrew and David also rely on embryo transfer in order to help build up quality herd numbers at a faster pace.
“We work with Paragon, based at Penrith for all our ET work as they’ve proven reliable over the years. This year, we had three Charolais females and three Angus cows forward for flushing, focussing on using cows that have bred well in the herd,” said Andrew.
Calves and their mothers are out at grass during the spring with creep feeding introduced in July.
Following weaning which takes place in October, heifers and bull calves are split with retained breeding heifers placed on a diet of grass and silage and left to run naturally.
Bull calves are moved onto a growing, coarse mix ration, before being introduced to a bran mash on the run up to sales or show season which is fed at 10pm every evening.
“Our bulls are fed a tailored coarse mix with very little barley through it, as well as some silage for roughage.
“We find that the reduced barley content is kinder to the animal’s liver and feet, which improves longevity and avoids producing bulls that tend to ‘melt,’” Andrew explained.
David and Andrew are aiming to breed bulls to sell from one-year-old upwards, whether that is privately off farm or through society sales.
We are finding that we are getting a good number of bulls sold straight off the farm, which is what we are looking to achieve in the long run. We do like to take bulls to the February, May and October Stirling Bull Sales and to the Thainstone’s Spring Show at the end of February.
“We may in time take bulls to Carlisle too, but we’re happy enough to increase the number of private sales if we can,” commented David.
With herd numbers now steadily rising, a stricter culling policy has also been enforced to ensure that quality is kept at the fore.
“Some of our females are kept and used for embryo transfer work. Any stock with bad temperaments, feet, legs and udders are sent away – functionality is a big aspect of good breeding stock.
“If a cow is producing poorer calves then she also goes. We are ruthless but we find that it keeps our herd productive,” said David.
The Logie and Newlogie bulls are also semen tested and are managed under a high health scheme – with all stock retaining a Johne’s Level 1 accreditation, as well as being BVD and Lepto accredited.
If the cattle didn’t keep Andrew and David busy enough, the AJR team also has time to support both local and national shows, with 2022 proving to be a particularly successful season for the herd.
“We have secured a few championships at local shows, but by far our biggest achievement would be winning the supreme interbreed beef title at this year’s Royal Highland Show, which has been a goal of mine for some time now,” Andrew stated.
“Throughout my career I have secured five Highland Show breed championships, as well as three reserve inter-breed titles, however, I never managed to make it to the overall before my wife passed away. So this year’s success with our Charolais bull really was an emotional moment for us all,” he added.
With figures proving to be an ever-growing influence
when it comes to selecting a terminal sire, Andrew and David are more focussed on ensuring that their buyers are investing in functionality and productivity.
“Whilst figures are important to those that want them, we mustn’t lose sight of the structural correctness and functionality of the animals. In our eyes, that is the most important aspect and the figures should then follow.
“On our front the figures are there for the people that want them but, as a buyer, we want to know how well a cow milks, how good the animal’s locomotion and longevity is and most importantly, can they breed?,” Andrew explained.
Looking towards the future of a market with the influence of Charolais and Angus genetics, David commented: “The Charolais will always prove a popular option against other terminal sire breeds because, at the end of the day, they can’t be beaten when it comes to producing younger calves that have a good daily live weight gain.
“The Angus is known for their easy fleshing and quality beef, and they will continue to play a dominant role within the beef farming industry,” he said.
“The bread and butter of our own business is the commercial farmer, and our aim is to continue to produce bulls that meet their standards and keep our repeat customers happy. In our eyes it’s a bonus selling a bull to a pedigree herd.
“At the end of the day, we want our buyers to head home with a bull because they really like it…and if we can achieve that, then we’re not doing too badly,” Andrew concluded.
AJR Farms will have two Charolais bulls and one Aberdeen-Angus bull forward for this month’s United Auctions’ Stirling Bull Sales, which run from Sunday, October 16 to Tuesday, October 18.