CHAROLAIS CATTLE AND AD LIB FEEDING ACHIEVE TOP PERFORMANCE AT CULFORK

Right: An impressive group of finished Charolais cross bulls ready for slaughter

Charolais cross cattle, carefully selected for conformation and growth potential, achieve top performance and hit the top grade virtually every time for brothers, Gordon, Stewart and Dougie Walker at Culfork, Alford, Aberdeenshire.

“No other breed can match the performance and weight gain of the Charolais,” says Stewart, who runs the 530-acre farming enterprise with Gordon, while Dougie works full-time with Aberdeen and Northern Marts.

And most farmers would be envious of the grading sheets from Mathers (Inverurie) Ltd which show that of the 219 cattle slaughtered so far this year, no fewer than 208 have classified U for conformation and three have even made the rare E classification with only eight classifying R and none falling into the lower categories. Average carcase weight was just over 400kg.

A snapshot of one group of home-bred cattle saw 48 steers killing-out at 437kg deadweight at 21 months with all but five achieving U grade and 41 heifers tipping the scales at 373kg at 19 months of age and all but eight hitting U.

“With a premium of 6p/kg for U grade compared with R, it pays to make sure you get as many as possible into the higher category,” says Stewart, who admits he keeps cattle a month longer to make sure they hit the top grades.

“But we seldom get anything grading higher than 4H for fat cover and keeping them a little bit longer ensures a better killing-out percentage,” he points out.

The key to achieving this high level of performance is the use of superior Charolais sires in their own herd of 110 cows, most of which are Simmental cross with a few Limousin cross, and the careful selection of Charolais cross stores, most of which are sourced either in Orkney or at Thainstone Centre.

“Buying the cattle right is important,” says Stewart. “We try to buy cattle with a bit of potential and outcome and not too lean. Cattle that will go on and grow quickly from the day they come home.”

And the Walker’s don’t scrimp on buying the best when it comes to selecting stock bulls for their own herd. One of the current stock bulls, Clinterty Uranium, by the French sire, Jumper, bred by Brian Buchan, Clinterty, New Aberdour, was purchased at Perth for 7500gns and the other, Balthayock Reuben, by Dingle Hofmeister, bred by Major D H Walter, Balthayock, Perth, cost 5000gns when purchased at the Conglass suckler herd dispersal at Thainstone Centre.

With price penalties for carcases weighing over 420kg and the ending of the Beef Special Premium Scheme, the emphasis at Culfork is now on heifers rather than steers.

And the adoption of a Total Mixed Ration to replace the previous silage and barley regime, has allowed throughput to be increased by a third with no increase in overheads, except for the acquisition of a second-hand mixer wagon.

“The job is easier as we are now feeding only once a day compared with twice previously and the cattle are performing well on an ad lib diet,” says Gordon.

The ration, devised by Harbro sales specialist, David MacKenzie, comprises silage plus a mix of barley, Invercrombies (wheat dark grains), molasses, and an 18% protein Grampian blend with minerals and Yea-Sacc to aid rumen digestion. This is fed at a low barley inclusion rate initially which is quickly stepped up within a few days. No problems with bloat or laminitis have been encountered. Silage is made available at two bales per week between 40 animals. Yearling home-bred cattle receive Harbro’s Cattle 35 concentrate over the first winter.

Target weight gain is 1.7kg/day and feed cost works out at £1.72 per kg of liveweight gain.

“The cattle never stand still as you just can’t afford to have them go through a store period,” says Stewart. “You’ve got to keep them moving to achieve high weight gain and get them away as quickly as possible.”

Health is also vitally important to ensure good performance and all cattle are vaccinated for worms, fluke and pneumonia at housing.

Quality has always been the name of the game at Culfork and cattle from the farm used to do well when shown at Thainstone Centre or in carcase shows. Stores are now purchased all the year round and fast-finished over three or four months.

“Ad lib feeding has certainly helped us achieve better performance and increase our annual throughput by a third,” says Gordon. “We are achieving a satisfactory margin at present but, with costs increasing all the time, it is absolutely vital that returns for finished cattle remain at least around the present level.”

Stewart enjoys nothing better than sitting in his front room of a summer evening watching his cattle graze contentedly. Little wonder that he has named his house “Charolais View”!