December’s beef, sheep and dairy Livestock Legend entries
Farmers Weekly readers have been sending in pictures of their most productive and prized stock over the past year for the Livestock Legends series. Here’s the latest influx of entries.
18-year-old British Blue cow Greystone Olive has been nominated by owner Graham Coates for being one of the most productive beasts in his herd.
She has produced 15 calves to date and always holds to first service. She has produced 10 bulls, to a top of 7,500gns, with others sold privately, including two to AI company Genus.
Olive is a daughter of elite sire Ardent and out of home-bred cow Emerald, who bred until she was 17 years old. Her first 10 calves were born with a calving interval of 365 days.
See also: Livestock legends gallery
This three-and-a-half-year-old Simmental-cross Angus cow has been put forward by farmer Peter Eccles due to her ability to churn out top-quality calves.
Pete first calved as a two-year-old to a Hereford bull. The calf she produced was grass reared and finished in July 2015 at 16 months old weighing 638kg liveweight with a killing out percentage of 56.4% and a 380kg deadweight R3L carcass, which realised £1,400.
Her second calf was born unassisted in April 2015 again to a Hereford and was recently weaned at 200 days old weighing 456kg. This is 100kg heavier than the next heaviest calf in the group. Pete was also weighed on weaning and tipped the scales at 808kg scoring an efficiency factor of 56.4%.
She has now been scanned back in calf following AI to a Charolais bull.
Nejay Princess is Neil Madeley, Cherry Oak Farms’ pride and joy giving more than 100t of milk in 10 lactations. She was retired from milk production a few years ago and now serves as a youngstock manager in the herd.
In her prime she won several shows, including reserve interbreed champion at the European Dairy Event in 2000.
As well as giving the amount of milk she did she calved every year and only returned once to AI. She also won the Dairy Shorthorn Society gold cup for regular breeding and milk production, having calved four times in three years three months and producing fat and protein over 7% combined.
Megwin the Masham is Diane and Robin Metcalfe’s livestock legend.
She is heading towards her 10th crop of lambs, having already had seven sets of twins and two sets of triplets.
She arrived at Hardenclough Farm, Derbyshire, as a ewe lamb in 2004 and has had success in the show ring, being part of a winning pair of Masham ewes three times at Hope. She is described by her owners as a true individual character, excellent mother and much loved livestock legend.
Red Ruby Devon Kerr’s Lassie has bred 17 calves in 17 years (no twins) and turned 21 on 1 September.
She joined the herd of 38 Red Ruby Devon’s owned by Graham Summerhayes, Tiverton, Devon, when she was 12 years old and has been one of the foundation cows for another ex-dairy farmer John Lindley.
Lassie has produced seven calves for Mr Summerhayes.
This 15-year-old Aberdeen Angus cross cow has been put forward by owner Sam Lecocq, Park House Farm, Whitby, North Yorkshire, having produced 12 calves, including one set of twins in her lifetime. She has never had any problems with calving and is the lead cow in the herd.
Geoffrey Littlejohns, Leith Hill, believes his Friesian-cross suckler cow is a legend having produced 21 calves in her lifetime.
She produced her first calf in 1997 and produced every year until 2012 and finally in 2014.
We would like you to vote on your favourite livestock legend of 2015. Simply go to livestock-legends-vote to pick your favourite. We will announce the winner in 2016.