Taking Stock

Most farmers would struggle to justify paying more than £1400 for an in-calf heifer, but some cull cows are now hitting these dizzy heights.

Weighing in at 886kg an eight year old Belgian Blue sold at £1.64/kg compared to £1.50/kg paid during the same sale at Market Drayton Mart, Shropshire, for a 975kg Belgian Blue cull bull, fetched £1461.

The cow which was bought as a heifer in Belgium, is now en-route back to her homeland for processing having grossed £1451.

Well that's the first part of the Paris mission completed, SIA the main livestock show is safely under my belt and a huge success it was too.

The English presence there was fantastic under the EBLEX banner, promoting not just English beef and lamb, but also English breeding stock. Disappointingly, there was no Scots or Welsh presence, a huge opportunity missed I feel, but all the better for us English that they weren't there to compete!

The main purpose of SIA is undoubtedly to promote farming to the French public and it puts every UK show to shame, explaining production from farm to fork.

A quick tour of SIMA reveals the presence of more UK stock in the form of impressive Limousin bull Sauvignon from the Crawford brothers. Admittedly bringing a Limousin bull to Paris is a little bit like taking coal to Newcastle, but its good to see UK cattle back in Europe again.

Sauvignon takes on the might of the French Limousins tomorrow and it'll be interesting to see how he measures up.

As predicted the Holstein lines here are full to bursting with a highly impressive line up of cows to be judged later in the week.

The interest in Savignon, the Crawford brothers' Limousin bull is gradually building, with many French breeders stopping by for a look at the impressive beast.

With judging now underway it won't be too long before he comes under the judges gaze. The Crawfords' expect to the be in the ring at about 12 noon, so I'll report back later with the results.

History was made 20 minutes ago, when Sauvignon, the Limousin bull from the Crawford Brothers walked into the showring at Paris' SIMA show.

But that was nothing compared to the historic moment which occurred some 10 minutes later when Sauvignon clinched first place in a tremendously strong class of 15 senior bulls.

Sauvignon continues to dominate the Limousin cattle classes here at SIMA, having clinched the senior and overall male championships.

Owner Raymond Crawford told Taking Stock the win was a monumental achievement and was more than he could have ever hoped for when he left for Paris.

Now all they need to do is convince DEFRA to let Sauvignon back into the UK and they'll have the job sussed - however, the chances of that happening are about as slim as landing a bull on the moon. But then again according to the nursery rhyme a cow did jump over the moon, so maybe DEFRA will come up trumps after all!!

The Herefords do it again.........I'm reguarly mentioning demand for native genetics and the Hereford breed has come up trumps again.

Following a visit of French Hereford breeders in early December, nine bulls have been sold to France.

The consignment consisted of two bulls from Welsh breeder Dennis Jones of the Dendor herd, who following a successful show season collected the National Show Herd of the Year award last year.

Ralph Bailey of Llancillo Hall, South Herefordshire, sold the only horned bull int he consignment, April born Llancillo Hall Burin 3rd, by the Hereford Sire of the Year, Border General V85.

Glos-based breeder, Andrew Hobson of the Eldersfield prefix and Michael Clark of Lowesmoor Herefords, sold three bulls between them.

Surrey based Barry Myers of Boundless Herefords, provided the final three bulls, two sons of Boundless 1 Strike-Out and a Boundless 1 Voltage son.

One of Barry Myers bulls heading to France......

A vibrant buzz round the sale rings at Dungannon Farmers Mart resulted in an almost full clear out of Belgian Blue bulls and averages creeping £600 up on last year's sale for the Northern Ireland Belgian Blue Club's first export sale.

Auctioneer Trevor Wyllie commented after the sale on the lively trade with a strong demand for quality stock, with nearly half of the bulls forward being sold for export to Southern Ireland.

Over £1m of pedigree cattle have already been shipped through the high health live export route established by P&O ferries and the NBA in October last year.

Up to 156 pedigree cattle, 39 bulls and six calves have been exported through Dover. The main destinations are France, Germany, Poland, Holland and Belgium and breeds include Limousin, Highland, Dexter, Holstein Friesian, Gallaway, Hereford, Aberdeen Angus, Salers, Gascon and Bazadaise.

The value of this traffic is expected to treble by the end of the year, reckons Kim Marie Haywood of the NBA.

Export storeis normally come from the cattle industry on Taking Stock, but I'm pleased to shout about the 15 Poll Dorset ewe lambs and a ram leaving Rob Hole's Sherborne Flock, Sherborne, Dorset.

Heading for Kasendorf, Southern Germany the buyer has purchased the sheep through the flock's website and will be the first Poll Dorsets in Southern Germany, where they will be used to produce lambs for a local butcher. The breeds ability to lamb in any month of the year, naturally, will be eventually used to supply fresh lamb all year round.

Unlike the previous week, export buyers at Ashford Market, Kent were particularly busy with home buyers reluctant to pay the price.

Averages were in excess of 125p/kg and up to £64 a head for Texel crosses. The majority of hoggets ranged from £50 to £60 a head and up to £66.

Trade also improved for store sheep with stronger ones from the best crossbreds readily in excess of £40.

The top half of the finished cattle entries averaged 129p/kg with yearling heifers grossing £667 and 24 month old steers grossing £977. A mixed bag of store cattle saw Limousin cross steers topping £428 (Hobbs Parker).

It seems it's not just the Charolais breed who have had success in getting cattle over to Poland. History was made last week when the first Hereford bull bred in Scotland, and the first from the UK for 41 years, left for Poland.

Romany 1 Cosmonaut, a 22 month old bull from J R B Wilson and Sons, Cowbog, Kelso has at last gone after being bought by Simon Gill, AgroIrlandia, Warsaw, last summer. Although selected seven months ago he has been unable to move owing to FMD and BTV export restrictions.

Potential cattle buyers from Poland will be visiting next month's Balmoral Show, Belfast, at the invitation of the Livestock and Meat Commission for Northern Ireland (LMC).

LMC has invited Konrad, an international cattle and genetics business to Balmoral show this year to showcase the quality and variety of cattle breeds available in Northern Ireland.

Jelmer Hania LMC’s Export Development Executive explains, “I met representatives from Konrad in Poland last year at the Farma Agricultural show and they were impressed by the Northern Ireland cattle industry’s profile as well as the traits and characteristics of the livestock.

"Konrad is a significant player in the Polish market and there is no better way for them to research opportunities and develop contacts in Northern Ireland, than to visit the Balmoral show, where all the cattle breeds will be represented.”

He added, “There are export opportunities in Europe for NI pedigree livestock and genetics, which in sharp contrast with the majority of beef and sheep production in Northern Ireland, can be profitable. There are also spin-off benefits in terms of improving the genetic quality of our livestock remaining in Northern Ireland.”

The representatives from Konrad are looking for a variety of breeds including; Simmentals, Angus, Charolais and Herefords. LMC will be introducing the buyers to the breed societies at Balmoral show on Wednesday 14 May

A Holstein calf, Holmland Elayo Rachel Red, from Steven and Patricia Bell's Penrith, Cumbria-based Holmland herd will be offered for sale at the prestigious Holland Masters Sale on Friday 27 June at the All Holland Dairy Show.

Elayo Rachel Red is bred from the renowned August family, that has produced internationally proven bulls such as KHW Kite Advent Red, and is out of Holmland PS Rachel Red a VG87 two year old daughter of September Storm. PS Rachel Red is heavily contracted for embryos and has a Elayo sired bull calf which will enter into AI.

Grand dam to Elayo Rachel Red is Indianhead Durham Roxan an Excellent 93 rated cow. Meanwhile, Elayo Rachel Red will sell with contracts for embrryos and bulls, with both major UK AI studs expressing interest.

The calf has been exported to Holland ahead of the sale along with another from Smiddiehill Holsteins, Shropshire, by Diamond Genetics which organises the Holland Masters Sale.