Farm of the Week: Salers are big favourites for one farming family

Why Salers?

Approach Farm at Escrick, near York, seems like a good place to ask why yet another breed of French cattle is steadily increasing its British following.

The Gowthorpe family, who have run the farm since 1944, tried their first Salers more or less by chance. Now they are heading for a herd of nothing but.

Peter and Margaret Gowthorpe came to the farm as tenants in 1944 and bought the farm from the Escrick Estate in 1980. Their son Angus is now included in the business title – P.W., K.M. and C.A.W. Gowthorpe. His wife, Kerry, is in the team and four-month-old Bronwyn is first of the next generation.

They farm a total of 418 acres (169 ha), including 58 acres of rented grass. The original farm was 227 acres but various blocks of land have been acquired over the years, within an eight-mile radius.

Soil type varies from blow-away sand to heavy clay and annual rainfall is about 890mm (35 inches). Cropping includes 69 acres of winter oilseed rape, for crushing; 128 acres of Viscount winter wheat, for biscuits; 45 acres of Cassia winter barley, for feed; 25 acres of Tipple spring barley, hopefully for malting; 45 acres of Crackerjack combining peas, targeted for human consumption; 45 acres of permanent grazing; 17 acres of temporary grazing; and 45 acres of silage grass.

The livestock holding has developed from a need for an easy-to-manage beef operation that would integrate well with the arable enterprises. The count at the time of this visit is: eight pedigree Salers heifers in calf to two recently-acquired Salers bulls; and 54 commercial Salers-cross cows with Limousin-cross calves at foot, now also in calf to the Salers bulls.

Peter Gowthorpe said: "We were running a commercial suckler herd of 'Heinz 57' breeds and crosses and using Charolais bulls as terminal sires. All calves were finished for beef with bull calves kept entire. There was no real thought about different breeds, but in 2002 we happened to buy eight Salers-cross heifers as herd replacements.

"At about the same time, we went to France on holiday and by sheer chance happened to be in the Salers region when the Salers Turn-out Fair was being held. We were impressed by both the quality and the quietness of the cattle."

The following year, Angus returned home, after a degree at Harper Adams College followed by five years as a management trainee with JSR Farms. By this time, his father was already embarked on the Limousin-Salers route

Angus said: "The cross has worked well. But we have come to see the advantages in moving towards a purebred herd.

"We went to the 2004 Salers Cattle Society sale in Castle Douglas, just to take a look, and bought eight commercial bulling heifers from the Cuil, Poldean and Burnhouse Mains herds – virtually purebred animals. We went to look, mainly, but liked what we saw and took the view that the transport costs would be about the same whether we took home two or three or 10 cattle.

"More Salers cattle followed, including some from Rigel (the Pye family's herd, near Yarm) at the point they were moving over to purely pedigree breeding.

"We were still using hired Limousin bulls as terminal sires. But we wanted to get away from hiring bulls, with the associated risk of bringing in disease. Also, our own experience had shown that there was a shortage of Salers heifers and a ready market for them. So we thought we might as well produce our own. At present, pure Salers heifers are worth about 300 more than Limousin/Salers heifers, so while we have had to buy our own Salers bulls, the margins are greater and we have control over our herd health status.

"The chance to establish a high-health herd is an important consideration. None of our neighbours have livestock on land bordering our farm and we think there will be a premium for high-health status. Certainly buyers are increasingly looking at health status. And the Salers is a healthy kind of animal.

"In addition, both Kerry and I are interested in doing a little showing, even though this will mean keeping the show cattle in quarantine, away from the main herd, for the show season, and only letting them back into the herd after thorough testing."

In short, beef production will continue to be the main business, but the family have decided that even for that, there is no real benefit in crossing the Salers. They might get a little more from a finished crossbred, but when simplicity and ease of management is taken into account, there is little or nothing in it. And they want a small pedigree herd at the heart of the suckler herd.

The latest moves towards that status have included the purchase of two stock bulls from Rigel Pedigree and heifers from the breed society chair, Rachel Hallos, and vice-chair, Harri Pritchard.

Cattle are loose-housed in straw yards, on ad lib silage, from late October through to mid-April, with calving indoors from New Year to the end of March.

All calves receive a home-mixed creep feed from early July. Heifers are kept on restricted rations from housing until April, then switched to an ad-lib finishing ration, while bulls receive ad-lib finishing rations from housing until slaughter.

Angus said: "Some heifers are sold as stores through York market; some are bought as bulling heifers. All finished animals go to ABP, York. Heifers typically make R or U grade and weigh about 310 kg deadweight while bulls go at fifteen and a half months, grade U, and make about 425 kg deadweight.

"Salers suit our system. There is no profit in a dead calf, or if we have to cull a cow because of calving problems. The Salers calve themselves and grow like mushrooms. And we get a fairly large animal with the length needed to carry plenty of meat.

"Our priority now is to gradually build up the Salers content of the herd.

"The future for beef production in the UK is dependent on so many factors ... But I believe there is the market in the UK for quality beef, provided it is consistent. The Salers offer a consistent carcass with low labour input, quick-growing cal-ves and fertile long-living cows."

CW 30/10/10