SWEARINGBYTHEHEREFORD
SWEARINGBYTHEHEREFORD
By Shelley Wright
TO many people, Hereford cattle may seem unfashionable in todays beef breeding systems. But Robert Wilson, who farms at Kelso in the Scottish Borders, disagrees strongly.
The breeds docile nature and strong mothering ability, combined with its capacity to thrive on little additional feeding, makes it his number one choice. And the economics make sense too, with an attractive price advantage for animals sold through the Waitrose Hereford beef scheme.
Hereford cattle first arrived at the Wilson familys Cowbog farm almost 50 years ago.
"Grandfather was called in at the last minute to judge cattle at the market. Until then he had always kept Welsh Blacks, but he bought the champion Hereford heifer that day. He was impressed, so Herefords soon replaced Welsh Blacks and have been here ever since," says Mr Wilson.
The herd comprises 85 cows, of which 50 are purebred Herefords and the others Hereford crosses. "All are put to pure Hereford bulls and we retain the best female calves for our own replacements," explains Mr Wilson.
"The remaining 30 females are finished here and sold through the Waitrose scheme." He aims to finish heifers on grass, with as little extra feeding as possible, at about 24 months.
Bull calves are left entire and fed on an intensive system to finish at 15-16 months. But Waitrose does not accept beef from bulls, so these are sent for slaughter in Ayr.
However, changes are being considered. "We run a fairly intensive system at the moment, with 150 acres of grass and 150 acres of cereals here, and another 50 acres of rented grass.
"We are looking to secure another 100 acres of grass to allow us the possibility of qualifying for extensification premium. We will also consider castrating bull calves and finishing them at grass at about 18 months, which would save on feed bills," he adds. The steers would also qualify for the Waitrose scheme.
Splitting the herd between autumn and spring calving allows heifers to calve at two and a half years old. "It gives them a little more time to grow, rather than pushing them to calve at two years," says Mr Wilson.
He became involved in the Waitrose beef scheme shortly after it was launched in 1999. "The company now sells Hereford beef in 20 of its 120 stores, so there is plenty of potential for breeders to produce more," he believes.
All animals for the scheme are sent to Pontefract, Yorks, for slaughtering and cutting. The base price for R4L carcasses is 185p/kg for heifers and 190p/kg for steers. "Since 1999, the base price has always been a good 20p/kg above the national average," according to Mr Wilson.
Those supplying Waitrose must be members of a recognised farm assurance scheme and the beef must be from heifers or steers sired by a pedigree registered Hereford, raised on a GM-free diet. "Apart from that, there are no additional demands," he says.
And there are no contracts. "The processor gives us our base-price and we indicate how many animals are likely to be produced each year. It is all a question of trust."
As with all involved in the food industry, processors prefer larger animal numbers from fewer suppliers. "So it could be that the next stage in the scheme is to have producers supplying stores to large finishing units. For the good of the breed, that would be sensible because it should improve consistency of beef supplied to supermarkets," says Mr Wilson.
He accepts that Herefords suffered an image problem in recent years and became unfashionable as more producers switched to Continental breeds. "For a long time, breeders followed the Canadian example and began producing taller, narrower Herefords. That turned many people off the breed.
"But we are getting back to basics now and breeding for the traditional Hereford beef qualities again – medium-sized, economic cattle which dont need much supplementary feeding."
As numbers of staff on farms continue to fall, beef producers must think about making systems as easy to manage as possible, believes Mr Wilson. "With the Hereford, you can be confident that cows will calve themselves and produce a live calf at the end of it. The same cannot be said for Continental breeds." *
Hereford beef commands premiums of 20p/kg in the Waitrose Scheme, says Robert Wilson.
WAITROSE SCHEME
• Hereford-sired heifers and steers.
• Premiums of 20p/kg.
• More cattle required.