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Peterpan, sold for the second<br />
top price of 14000gns in<br />
February 2021 and a further<br />
two Majestic sons selling for<br />
7000gns each in May 2021.<br />
All the cows are housed from<br />
around the end of October on<br />
slats, and when they begin to<br />
calve around the 15 of April,<br />
they move outdoors to calve<br />
to prevent the calves picking<br />
up bugs which can build up<br />
indoors. A cow catcher was<br />
purchased several years ago,<br />
and this has made calving<br />
outside a lot easier - weather<br />
permitting.<br />
All cattle are fed a TMR diet, <strong>with</strong> the young bulls on a growing<br />
ration fed 1.5kg/dlwg. The ration includes their home-grown<br />
barley and a bought-in protein balancer. The in-calf cows are<br />
fed silage and minerals but the ration includes up to 4kgs of<br />
ground straw, depending on silage analysis, to prevent them<br />
from putting on too much weight pre-calving.<br />
“The <strong>Charolais</strong> are popular in the store ring and sell well,” he<br />
says, and aims to sell his steer calves and heifers not retained<br />
as herd replacements at 10-12 months old, weighing between<br />
380 and 400kgs. “We’ve decided to try something different,<br />
by rearing bulls, and so far, this is paying dividends. We<br />
finished about 30 this summer and have now left all male<br />
calves entire this year as we’ve found the margin is a lot<br />
better. We’re getting an average of £1650/head for the bull<br />
beef ranging between 14 and 15 months<br />
of age at slaughter, and 380 to 420kgs<br />
deadweight. This equates to about an<br />
extra £500 a head for keeping them an<br />
extra 16 weeks, although this is probably<br />
the most expensive period to keep them.<br />
We’re relying on a deadweight price of<br />
around £4.20/kg to get a decent margin.<br />
“Overall our aim is to breed easy-care,<br />
commercially viable females, and to<br />
move away from the dairy influence on<br />
the suckler cows. We want docile cows,<br />
ones that are a bit smaller but still have<br />
good pelvic space, are good milkers, carry<br />
flesh better and feed the calf well. The<br />
<strong>Charolais</strong> <strong>genetics</strong> certainly play a big, and<br />
ever-increasing, role in this.”<br />
No bull works harder for the farmer, the plate and the planet 27
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