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A suckler herd breeding policy producing home-bred
heifer replacements as well as providing an option to finish heifers
as high quality beef cattle is working well on a 4800-acre estate
in the Lammermuir Hills in south-east Scotland.
Harehead Farms – which carries 300 suckler cows and 4500
breeding ewes – has chosen the Simmental as the linch-pin
sire to achieve a system of flexibility where a closed herd policy
can also be maintained.
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Neil Anderson manages the estate which has gradually increased
in size since he began as farm manager in 1987. The estate now
extends to four farms. The original herd of Luing cows has been
retained and expanded to capitalise on the on the success of the
Sim-Luing.
“
We were impressed from the start by the Sim-Luing calves and have
continued to use this cross as the basis for our suckler herd.
We no longer buy-in any herd replacements and rely on the Simmental
as the main crossing sire although we also use some Beef Shorthorn,” says
Neil Anderson.
Harehead Farms carries 100 Luing and 100 Sim-Luing spring-calving
cows and 100 predominantly Sim-Luing autumn calvers. Heifer replacements
are Sim-Luing and threequarter Simmental.
“
With the Simmental as the bed-rock of our breeding we can always
go one of two ways; we’ve got good replacement heifers and
good finishing cattle and it’s worth a lot to have both those
options by using one beef bull. No other beef sire would do that
for us out of the Luing cows,” says Neil Anderson.
Good-shaped cows with a calm temperament and plenty of milk – that’s
how Neil Anderson sums up his Simmental-sired suckler cows. He
used to buy-in yearling heifers but a hike in prices for good quality
beef-crosses and an increasing awareness of the benefits of becoming
a closed herd means self-sufficiency in replacements is now a priority. “Bull selection is important – we want
a bull to do both jobs. They have to look right first and then
we check up on the figures particularly the weaning weight (200-day)
and the female traits for milk and easy calving,” says Neil
Anderson.
Spring-born Simmental-sired calves are housed in the autumn. Steers
are weaned in November and heifers at Christmas. Steers are sold
at 11-months-old in the spring after one headage payment has been
claimed.
 Heifer calves for replacements are selected and the rest are finished
on the farm at around 18-months-old at 550kg. Some surplus heifers
are bulled and sold with calves at foot.
“
There’s no problem selling Simmental-cross heifers. We usually
sell them directly off the farm to regular buyers. Everyone’s
looking for easy-care cattle and harder wearing cows,” says
Neil Anderson.
Autumn calvers calve outside by late November; calves are creep
fed during the winter, turned out to grass and weaned in July.
After taking one payment off the steers they are sold at 11-months-old.
Heifer calves are divided between those to be retained and those
for finishing.
“
The Simmental is a dual purpose breed and we capitalise on that.
You have to get the balance right in the bulls you use but it’s
worth taking time to make the best decision based on as much information
as you can.
“
You get to the store cattle progeny stage very quickly, but a bull
bought to breed heifer replacements will take three years to prove
himself; you have to wait to see his daughters milking before you
can judge him as a female producer.”
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