Farming Eye

There is good news for the Aberdeen-Angus breed ahead of next week’s Stirling sale, with a batch of heifers heading to Estonia in the latest export deal for the breed.

The latest consignment, which totals 46 head includes 35 heifers which have been bought by one of the world’s leading professional sumo wrestlers is the latest recruit to the ranks of Aberdeen-Angus breeders.

Estonian, Kaido Hoovelson – who wrestles under the name of Baruto and is currently the number two sumo wrestler in the world – has purchased 35 yearling heifers as the foundation stock for an Aberdeen-Angus herd on his farm in Estonia.

The heifers have been purchased from the Rosemount herd of Alex and Wendy Sanger at Prettycur, Montrose, Angus, and are due to be shipped to Estonia later this month.

Alongside this group are a batch of 10 heifers and a bull which are heading to established Estonian Aberdeen-Angus breeders Meelis and Piret Marmor of Aberdeen Top Genetics, whose 90-cow Marmorland herd, built up over the past six years on Scottish bloodlines, is now firmly established as the leading Aberdeen-Angus herd in Estonia.

“Kaido is a farm boy at heart and has opted for Aberdeen-Angus after considering several other breeds,” said Mr Marmor, who is advising Mr Hoovelson on his new venture. “The Aberdeen-Angus breed is the most popular breed in Estonia with strong local demand as well as a thriving export trade to countries such as Romania, Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus and Latvia.”

Mr Marmor has sold 15 bulls for breeding over the past year and another to Mr Hoovelson for his new herd. There is also a strong demand from Turkey for weaned Aberdeen-Angus bull calves for finishing as bull beef.

by Jonathan Long

Much like the rest of the sheep trade the in-lamb ewe sales across the country are seeing plenty of confident buyers willing to bid strongly for those on offer.

At Exeter last Friday an entry of 135 in-lamb Lleyns from R J and C E Stanbury, Coldridge, were well sought after selling to a top of £160 for a pen of mixed age ewes, with a pen of in-lamb ewe hoggs making the same price.

The in-lamb ewes sold to level at £151.22, with the ewe hoggs not far behind at a healthy £140.60.

Meanwhile, further north at Bentham last week a bumper entry of 1149 in-lambers presented buyers with a myriad of options. Heading up the sale was a dispersal on behalf of J Arthur, Carnwath, which included 400 Beltex and Texel cross ewes and 26 pure Beltex and 11 pure Texels.

These topped at £520 for a single pure Beltex ewe scanned for twins, while the more commercial Texel cross ewes sold to a high of £245, with the shearlings in the consignment making up to £190.

Another consignment of well-travelled sheep, this time 429 ewes from Gerald and Will Ketley, Essex, saw Mule three crop ewes due in April sell to a top of £162 to average £154.51. And, somewhat out of their native patch a group of 44 Romney ewes from the Ketleys sold to a peak of £160 to level at £153.

Ewes with lambs at foot are perhaps looking a shade dear compared to those still to lamb, with the best double couples at Sedgemoor on Saturday trading at up to £258, with D J Cheacker achieving this price on three lots and selling others at £228. B G, D E and S J Howell also saw a strong trade for their offering, with double couples up to £256 an outfit.

With the best heavy cull ewes trading at £120 and more in many markets it is easy to see how buyers are doing their sums and some of these in-lamb ewes will look relatively cheap compared to the dearer end of the shearling ewes last autumn, in-lamb Texel cross shearlings at £190 would look reasonably good value.

That said there’s plenty of work to do with these in-lamb ewes before they show a profit, getting them in-lamb is the easy part of the process!

by Jonathan Long

The entry of dairy cattle forward at Wednesday’s Bentham sale saw fewer numbers forward, but a quality offering nonetheless, which saw trade top at £2520 and an average of £2052.86 for freshly calved females.

Sale leaders were Kendal-based breeders Peter and David Knowles, Kendal, with their freshly calved heifer Kendal Cragg Scooby-Duu selling to Messrs W I Foster, Branpton. They also took a call of £2300 for Drumtall Shotgun Sadie, who was knocked down to M E Wannop and Sons, Morecambe.

(Auctioneers: Bentham and District Farmers Auction).

by Chrissie Long

For the Holstein fans among you there are some interesting genetics up for grabs this week in the latest Best of the West online embryo sale.

With 29 embryo packages on offer the organisers have once again provided something to suit everyone, but for me there are a few standout lots.

First of these in my mind is the second lot in the catalogue, a consignment of six embryos by Million out of Riverdane Talent Sara Red. Bred from a great show cow family these embryos combine some of the leading World genetics and are sure to attract some keen interest.

Another interesting package is a batch of six Sudan sired embryos out of Smiddiehill Shottle Marie. She is bred from four generations of Ex94 dams and is a classy cow crossed with one of the leading outcross sires available and has some impressive type and udder figures.

Then a few lots later are five embryos out of one of the leading bull dams available Wilsona Bolton Chelsea (lot 8). With sons entering stud across the globe she is one to get a piece of and these embryos are sired by VA-Early-Dawn Sudan.

For the red fanciers among you the tenth lot in the catalogue, a quintet of embryos by Scientific Destry out of Hanalee B Paprika could be the ones to tempt you. These are from a leading red family and Destry’s proof is pretty impressive too.

Those wanting to buy in to what is widely recognised as the leading family in the breed of all time may want to take a look at lot 15, a package of four Lauthority embryos out of a Roxy, in this case Willsbro Bonair S Roxy, a granddaughter of Stardale Leader Roxy.

A few lots later comes another popular bull dam offering in the form of MS Chartoise La Bieke. This offering is a trio of embryos by Lexor and is sure to attract some attention.

A high genomic cow is the final pick for me, in the form of four embryos by Wyman out of Bugno Planet, a 2747 GLPI dam. These will appeal to the figures followers and those after a good type animal too.

The full catalogue for the sale can be found here

by Jonathan Long

Mexican Charolais breeders will be using a new British bull this year thanks to the export of semen by Scottish Charolais breeder, Murray Lyle.

The semen, which has been shipped through UK Sire Services, is from Lamerpark Champion, a Weybread Archie son with a TSI of +33 and an SRI of +32. Bred by D G White, Wheathamstead, Champion, has lived up to his name, collecting an admiral sideboard full of silverware, including being overall Scottish National Charolais Show champion and Royal Highland Show junior interbreed champion.

The shipment was negotiated after a delegation from the Mexican Charolais Society attended the Stirling bull sales last autumn before visiting various Charolais herds from across the United Kingdom.

Mr Lyle comments: “We are really pleased to secure this deal. The delegation selected Champion for his frame and the growth that his genetics will offer to Mexican pedigree and commercial producers to enhance their already high performance Charolais. They were also very impressed with his muscling and easy fleshing qualities.”

The Mexican Charolais Society first imported British Charolais genetics in 2006, looking for length, ease of calving, milk, good locomotion and tight sheaths to build on their bloodlines which suit extensive farming systems. He continues: “The addition of Champion will build on the improvements that British Charolais has already contributed to the Mexican beef sector as the dominant terminal sire breed.”

by Jonathan Long

Yesterday’s show and sale of Charolais bulls in Tullamore topped at €10,000 for the first lot in the ring, a May 2010-born son of the Dovea bull Clonoulty Andraemon.

Tawny Full Throttle, from Ciaran Daly, Tullaghan, Co Leitrim, is out of the Doonally New daughter Tawny Celine and was originally unsold through the ring at €9500 and later sold outside the ring for €10,000 to Northern Irish-based Joel Richardson.

Judge for the day was Basil Bothwell who selected his champion and reserve champion from the same home, that of Gerard and Angela Brickley, Portlaoise, Co Laois. Taking champion honours was the December 2010-born ET-bred Celtic Felix, by Texan-Gie out of the Induran daughter Celtic Starlight. This one went at €4800.

The reserve champion, Celtic Fiachra, again born December 2010, is exactly the same way bred and sold for the same money.

More to follow…..

by Chrissie Long

Calved heifers, in-milk cows and a small selection of bulls all met a demanding trade at the Western Holstein Club’s sale at Beeston today, with all sections recording good clearances and strong averages. The general shortage of good milking cattle is still prevailing and anything fit to milk is clearly finding a ready audience.

Topping the trade was a heifer from the Tomlinson family’s Bilsrow herd, selling for 3800gns. The sale leader, Bilsrow Alexander Shower, is a Golden-Oaks St Alexander daughter out of Bilsrow Shottle Shower, is a December 2009-born heifer and is from seven generations of VG or Ex dams and gave 3okg at her first milk recording.

Second best of the sale was a 3500gns bid for the best priced cow of the sale, third calver Kingold Shottle Promise from Terry Goldstraw. This Shottle daughter is out of Kingold Igniter Promise 2 and gave 11,626 in her second lactation. She sold having calved in January and is the sixth successive generation of top two classifications in her dam line.

Selling at 3000gns was the top selling bull in the catalogue Cockador Stormy Red, an ET bred son of Pursuit September Storm from J Dawson. This ons is out of Condon Regiment Red Beatrice and comes from nine generations of VG or Ex classified dams.

by Jonathan Long

Earlier in the week I voiced some concerns over the rising price of store cattle and whether or not the prime cattle trade would keep pace with these dear stores. Many believe that after the rises of the last 12 months we simply won’t see such dramatic jumps in trade again in 2012.

However, looking through the prime cattle reports from the last couple of days it is easy to see where store buyers are taking their confidence from.

Today’s sale at ANM’s Thainstone centre saw a total of 76 prime cattle traded, with the 35 bullocks sold averaging a very healthy 203.5p/kg a rise of 9.7p/kg on last week. Top grossing steer was an 850kg Charolais at £1674.50.

The prime heifers, of which there were 28 levelled at 194.8p/kg, up by 1.7p/kg on last week’s sale and sold to a top of 220p/kg and £1342 gross for a 610kg Charolais from Kinothie Farms, Ellon.

by Jonathan Long

With a near doubling in numbers entered on this time last year Beef Shorthorn breeders look to be aiming to capitalise on the growing demand for bulls on the back of marketing schemes promoting Shorthorn beef.

However, while there is undoubtedly a growing demand, it remains to be seen if a good number of those entered will find new homes, with some breeders suggesting there could be a fair tail end.

Speaking to UA’s David Leggatt yesterday he was confident in there being a quality show of Shorthorn bulls and said the bulls he’d seen already were of a promising standard. “The breed’s obvious maternal qualities are helping with demand too.” Looking through the entries there are some big name sires among the pedigrees and plenty of bulls to tempt breeders and commercial customers alike.

by Chrissie Long

So, with Jonathan having given you his pick of the Angus bulls on offer in Stirling in a couple of week’s time, here is my selection from the Limousins on offer. It’s a relatively small entry of Limousins, but no doubt there will be a bumper selection to come at Carlisle.

As ever with a preview like this there is bound to be a bull or two that you like the look of which I’ve not picked out and vice versa, so feel free to add your thoughts on the selection and highlight anything you feel has been overlooked.

First pick for me is one from the first class of seniors, Calla Floyd (lot 507) from David Baillie. This is a son of the 23,000gns Goldies Comet and out of Normande Tangodancer, a Tarvis daughter. He has impressive figures, with a beef value of +48 and a muscle depth figure of +6.7. A few lots later David has another Comet son with good figures too in the form of Calla Fergus (lot 509), although both of these carry negative calving figures.

Black Limousin bulls seem to be having a heavy presence in this sale and it’s a black bull next on my list being Redpaths Black Fanfare (lot 514) from Redpath Farms. Sired by the 12,000gns Bailea Caviare and out of Redpaths Blossom , a Regal, daughter this one carries Requin, Nenuphar and Cannon in his back pedigree, so should be an interesting proposition.

by Chrissie Long