British Simmental Review 2018

A
desire to build their business has
seen Aberdeenshire beef farmers
Gary and Angela Christie push cow
numbers in their suckler herd in readiness
for their son Adam joining the business in
future.
The dedication of the family, who
farm at Midtown of Glass near Huntly,
was recognised recently when they were
announced finalists in this year’s AgriScot
Scotch Beef Farm of the Year Award.
The aim of the award, run by AgriScot
and Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) and
sponsored by Thorntons Solicitors, is to
showcase excellence in the production of
cattle in Scotland, and to raise the profile
of the dedication and stock management
skills behind the production of Scotch Beef
PGI.
The family run a pure Simmental and
Simmental cross suckler herd on their
157-hectare farm. They operate split
calving, with 100 cows calving in spring and
the remaining 35 in autumn.
Gary Christie commented: “The split
calving suits both labour and housing
availability and means we can always have
cattle to sell, which helps to manage the
cashflow throughout the year.”
In recent years, the family have
also developed a successful pedigree
Simmental herd that they manage
alongside the commercial herd. Having
only started to sell pedigree bulls in 2016,
they have achieved top prices of 14,000gns
and 13,000gns as well as a Reserve Overall
Simmental Championship Title at UA
Stirling in October 2017.
SIMMENTAL REVIEW 2018
www.britishsimmental.co.uk
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