Breeding Charolais for 50 years at Thrunton farm
BREEDING quality livestock of any sort is never easy and producing some of the best pedigree cattle on a regular basis requires dedication, ability, passion, and a keen stockman’s eye.
Having bred Charolais cattle for 50 years, that appears to be second nature to pedigree enthusiasts
Ian Campbell and his sons Andrew and Bruce who now run a 100-pedigree cow herd of Charolais and Aberdeen Angus across 600 acres on the tenanted farm at Thrunton, alongside a commercial flock of 450 sheep.
Ian’s father, Colin, was among the first in the area to introduce the Charolais as a terminal sire in the 1970s and as demand for the breed took o, the family started to breed a few pedigree cattle and eventually replaced the entire commercial suckler herd.
Having purchased their first two Charolais heifers 50 years ago – one from James Anderson of the Mearns herd and another from Neil Massie’s Blelack herd – the family grew the herd to 70 females.
Just 15 years ago, the Campbells made the decision to go into pedigree Aberdeen Angus, purchasing the odd female at dispersals as a foundation for their now 30-cow female herd.
Bruce explained: “Breeding only Charolais we had all of our eggs in the one basket and with the Angus beginning to get more popular for breeding good suckler replacements, we made the decision to breed both.
“Breeding pedigree cattle is extremely timeconsuming and very costly but if done correctly the rewards make it worthwhile.”
A small number of heifers are retained as replacements, with some sold for breeding privately, while the remainder are sold store through Hexham auction market. Last month’s batch of Aberdeen Angus heifers averaged £1780.
Most years, the family sell 45 pedigree bulls, with those failing to make the grade sold as bull beef through various auction markets.
“We want to support auction markets as they
nd determine a fair price.
They play a vital part of our industry,” said Ian.
Approximately 40% of bulls are sold o farm with the remainder sold between United Auctions, Stirling, and Harrison and Hetherington, Carlisle.
For next month’s sales, the team have seven Charolais bulls and four Aberdeen Angus bulls heading up to Stirling, with
three bulls and a female bound for the White Gold Sale at Carlisle.
“Physically, cattle need to be well structured and sound on their legs and feet, showing both breed character and shape in both breeds,” Ian and Bruce agreed, pointing out that breeding consistency is extremely important to them.
With calving taking place from April through to October, the family has various aged bulls to sell, ranging from 18-24 months of age before they take to the sale ring.
“Ours bulls are outside for as long as possible in groups of 10 plus throughout the
year. That way, we feel they do well and are hardier for our breeders,” said Bruce, adding that 20 acres are put aside for grazing young bulls in the summer.
Ian added: “We want bulls to be able to go straight out to cows and don’t melt once they leave here. Our bulls are not the fattest at sales, but they need to be fit and in the right condition, especially in May when many go out to the cows that month.”
The majority of the Charolais bulls are sold in Scotland, with the herd’s top price to date being 55,000gns paid in February 2006 for Thrunton Voldemort.
Their lead top-priced Aberdeen Angus at 20,000gns was this year’s reserve senior champion, Thrunton Best Man, sold at Stirling in February to Alistair and Graeme Fraser, Idvies herd.
Having initially relied on AI sires for the Angus herd, their first stock bull purchased was Tonley Kasper, bought at Stirling in February 2020 for 11,000gns, in partnership with the Hallington and Saville herds. Such was the success of this sire that his first crop of calves averaged in excess of £10,000.
Unfortunately, they lost Kasper and the Campbells purchased Tonley King Paco
at last year’s Stirling sales for 16,000gns a er the bull stood reserve champion.
Commenting on their choice of stock bull, Bruce, who also uses home-bred bulls within the herd, said: “First of all we aim to buy a bull that looks good appearance wise but the pedigree of the animal is essential too when we want something from a line that is breeding consistently well.”
Ian added: “Myostatin status and EBVs are also a consideration.”
Andrew takes full responsibility for all the feed rations and the arable side of the business. Bulls and calves are fed a homegrown ration, maxammon barley and oats, protein pellets, beet pulp and flaked maize. This is fed from two months and up until time of sale.
Up to 200 acres of wheat barley and oats are grown while extra straw is baled from neighbouring farms. Two cuts of pit silage and hay are made to provide good quality forages for the heifers and sheep.
Cows are housed on a diet of silage and straw, with dry cows outwintered on a stubble field and fed baled silage and straw, while the
heifers are strip grazed on kale and supplemented with hay or silage.
Charolais heifers calving in the autumn are put to an Angus bull, with Charolais heifers producing in the spring bulled with a Charolais.
“When heifers are at grass it is hard to control the size of the calf, and Angus tend to have a smaller calf at birth which is better for the heifers,” said Bruce, adding that the cattle are housed inside on straw-bedded courts during the winter.
The family also runs 450 commercial breeding ewes made up of a mixture of Cheviot Mules, Mules and Texel crosses which have just finished lambing now. They started lambing midMarch inside, mostly to a
Texel, while the hoggs were crossed to a Beltex.
The resultant Texel cross ewe lambs are retained for breeding, while up to 60 Mules and Cheviot Mule replacements are bought in annually from various auction markets. Ewes tend to achieve a scanning percentage of 190% with the hoggs at 120%.
“It has been the worst winter for rain we have ever seen here, and even right through April it has been cold and wet,” said Bruce, who admitted the farm has experienced more losses than the average year.
Ian added: “We have had to try and accommodate more inside by converting the hay shed into a nursery to allow us to keep ewes and lambs inside for longer.”
Lambs are fattened mainly o grass with the aim to sell them between July and November through Harrison and Hetherington’s Wooler centre. Some of the lamb crop go on to kale, which the in-lamb hoggs follow.
Tail end lambs are sold store through Hexham Auction Mart. “We need to get lambs o grass as soon as possible to allow the cattle to follow on, which is why our mixed farming enterprise works well,” said Ian.
“There is no doubt farming is a tough ‘job’, but you have to love it and be committed to it. The number of suckler cows is reducing, which you can understand when the cost of keeping them is so expensive.
“I believe there will always be a market for the best bulls, but we need to keep a mixed farming enterprise to spread our risks,” added Ian.
“With farm subsidies being phased out, the future is a bit unknown.
“The whole point of farm subsidies was to provide the nation with cheap food, so whether that means food prices will go up, who knows.”
Bruce added: “Producers are struggling yet supermarkets are making large profits – there isn’t the balance there needs to be in the food chain.”
Ian and Bruce concluded: “However, we need to continue to be as productive and ecient as we can. Breeding bulls for 50 years has its advantage, and we need to continue that consistency for our future.”