Tom and Rosanne Galloway farm with their son Neil in the
beautiful Wigtownshire peninsula of Dumfries and Galloway
in South West Scotland. Culnoag sits around 4 miles from
the coast near the village of Sorbie and about 6 miles from
Wigtown, with an elevation of some 500 feet, which catches
the wind from the sea. Despite its mild climate, the South
West has one of the highest rainfalls in UK with around 50
inches a year and is well known for its outstanding dairy
farms as well as its traditional beef and sheep in the hills.
While the grass is plentiful, there is little arable in the
area, so most feed, including straw, has to be bought in.
It is therefore necessary to work with a system, which employs
a substantial use of the grass and silage available and as
little concentrate feed as possible. The three farms, which
Tom took over from his uncle in 1978, make up the current
enterprise and lie into one another. There are enough sheds
between the farms to house the 170 pure Simmental suckler
herd and its followers. There is only grass grown and two
cuts of silage taken, which like many this year, was a month
later than usual on second cut.
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Like many of the farms in Dumfries and
Galloway, the only Scottish county to suffer severely from
FMD in 2001, the current enterprise began in 2002 after
restocking. Until that time, Tom had run a successful dairy
herd at Culnoag . In addition to producing the dairy replacements,
the Simmental was always used as a stock bull producing
good dairy cross heifers for the suckler herd. “We
always used the Simmental in the dairy herd, says Tom,
so when the decision was made in 2002 not to restock the
dairy herd and change to beef production, we had no hesitation
in deciding to base the herd on pure bred Simmental cows.
I wanted something that was quiet and easy to work with
and could milk well off grass. I had in the past milked
some of our Simmental cross cows through the parlour, so
I was well aware of how well they could milk and with the
added advantage of fast growing calves which I could take
to big weights, the choice was made for us.”
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It was also important to the family
to ensure the health of the herd and the ability to breed
their own replacements and avoid bringing anything else
in was of paramount importance. While Culnoag is not a
member of a health scheme, any bulls which are bought in
are health checked and young enough to be free of disease. “It is important to us that we
ensure that we do not bring any diseases not only into our
herd but also into our area. I would generally buy bulls
out of Scotland, for this reason alone. Many farmers in this
area employ a similar policy because all of us endured the
horrors of FMD. The only down side is a distinct shortage
of dairy cross heifers out of the dairy herds in the area
for local suckler herds. The Simmental could easily pick
up a large part of this market in the current climate and
it was good to see 4 or 5 new buyers from this area buying
Simmentals at the last sale in October.” Adds Tom.
After foot and mouth and whilst having
a well earned break with friends, Tom and Rosanne were
told about a small pedigree Simmental herd from Sandy and
Avril Morrison which was about to come on the market due
to the reduction of the stock. They bought the cattle and
have remained firm friends with Sandy and Avril ever since.
They made further enquiries and when some cattle from Delfur
came up for sale at Thainstone, they bought nineteen of
the first 20 through the ring by telephone. They came home
that day with 45 pure Simmental cows and the herd at Culnoag
was up and running. These were followed up by trips to
Douglas Barr at Delfur and Peter Close at Fishwick. Since
then, the herd has bred its own replacements to take it
to its current 170 total with 20 heifers to follow, which
don’t calve until they are
three years of age. “We like bigger cows which are
easy to get back in calve and have a good value at the end
of their productive life. “ says Tom All of the calves
are taken through to finish and go deadweight to McIntosh
Donald. Around 25 bulls are fattened at between 11 and 12
months on the same 50% barley mix with straw and generally
go to ABP.
“We had out first set of triplets this year.” adds
Neill. “We find that a lot of our cows have twins but
the mothers are able to handle them without any problem.”
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The main aim of the beef production
is to produce quality finished steers and heifers off grass
at big weights, which grow to a deadweight of up to 400kilos.
The finishing cattle are finished at 20-30 months of age
to utilise the grass and are introduced to creep as calves
in their first year using the same 50% barley mix which
they will winter on. Some heifers are sold privately for
breeding with the rest being finished on a similar system
to the steers. The mix is bought from the local Tarff Valley
Farmers mill, which is only a few miles away. The calves
are wintered in the cubicle shed, which had been used by
the previous dairy enterprise and the cows have adapted
to it very well. “They love
the mats in the cubicles, says Tom, and we clean the sheds
with a quad and scraper, which keeps them very clean”.
Any calves in the shed have there own little straw area at
the end where they can escape to for the comfort of the straw
bedding provided there.
The heifers are housed together at one of the neighbouring
farms, while the rest of the young stock is split by age
on spring and autumn calving and are brought through the
winter on a well ventilated slatted shed with the younger
calves on straw blown in on a daily basis.
The majority of the herd is Spring calving
with around 50 calving in August/September to ensure a
good cash flow. “Despite
most of the herd being spring calving, says Tom, we still
like to buy our bulls in the Autumn to prepare them and work
with them until they go out next summer.” Their latest
addition from the Perth Sales in October is Woodhall Vauxhall,
purchased for 10,000gns from Hector Macaskill at Woodhall,
Innerwick, Dunbar. “It is important to look at milking
ability and calving ease.” says Neil. “As well
as having good size and shape. It is also important for us
to be able to work with a bull and his docility is very important.” Vauxhall
joins a long line of outstanding bulls which have been brought
into the herd, all of which are still working on the farm! “It’s
like a retirement home for Simmental bulls!” laughs
Rosanne, who had just named all of the bulls they still have
on the farm and is obviously very proud of them. They include
Skerrington Layman, Delfur Lexian, Annanwater Rascal, Innerwick
Nelson and Blair Solomon.
The grass in the South West of Scotland is our biggest asset
and the Simmental is an outstanding cow to utilise it at
its best.
MCINTOSH DONALD REPORT 14TH AUGUST 2008
CLASS WEIGHT GRADE PRICE VALUE
S 381.6 -U4L 2.93 1118.09
S 342.4 -U3 2.93 1003.23
S 368.4 R3 2.86 1053.62
H 295.8 R4H 2.85 843.03
H 311.2 R4L 2.86 890.03
S 355.4 -U4L 2.93 1041.32
S 303.2 R2 2.86 867.15
CARRICK PRIMESTOCK (ABP) REPORT 19TH JUNE 2008
YB 424.00 -U3 2.60 1102.40
YB 378.70 U+4L 2.72 1030.06
YB 364.40 U+4L 2.72 991.17
YB 409.60 U+4L 2.70 1105.92
YB 415.20 -U4L 2.65 1100.28
YB 398.70 U+4L 2.72 1084.46
YB 374.20 U+4L 2.72 1017.82
YB 421.20 -U3 2.60 1095.12
YB 369.20 -U4L 2.72 1004.22
YB 314.80 U+2 2.72 856.26
WEIGHT PAYS! |
