Steven Nesbitt elected British Charolais Cattle Society chairman

BCCS chairman, Steven Nesbitt, with from left, Alasdair Houston; vice chairman, Ian Millar; Ben Harman; Alwyn Rees; Martin Donaghy and president, Drew Adam

One of the north east’s leading stockmen, Steven Nesbitt, of Alwent Hall, Winston, Darlington has been elected chairman of the British Charolais Cattle Society’s council of management. He succeeds Jimmy Wilson, of Barnyards, Mintlaw, near Peterhead who on stepping down after completing his two year term of office reported the society to be in good heart.

 “The British Charolais Cattle Society is extremely well poised to face the future; it is financially sound, membership is up and a number of new herds have been established in response to the market place,” Jimmy told the annual meeting. “Charolais with its weight for age, quality conformation, ease of calving and good temperament is attracting an increasing number of commercial producers to invest in the breed. In fact, there was every indication that demand outstripped supply earlier this season.

 “In addition, our official trial with a herd of 30 commercial purebred cows at SAC Bush has confirmed that purebred Charolais females have the potential as a suckler cow in the UK, similar to their counterparts in France where the cow population includes 2.1 million pure Charolais. Furthermore, the purebred steers have not only matched, but exceeded the performance of their crossbred counterparts, while the purebred cows should eventually command premiums in the cull marketplace.”

 Steven Nesbitt has had an involvement breeding pedigree Charolais cattle on his family’s 200 acre mixed unit for more than 25 years since he established his Alwent pedigree herd which has grown to 25 breeding cows and produced a number of successful cattle at breed society official shows and sales, including the 13,000gns Royal Highland junior champion, Alwent Osprey and the Perth 2004 reserve champion, Alwent Ultimate.

 “British Charolais has evolved over the past four decades to become the UK’s leading beef terminal sire and it’s a real honour to be elected to chair such a prominent society. My objective is to continue to reinforce the breed’s position, and promote its performance and subsequent financial benefits, far and wide throughout the cattle sector,” he says.

 “Beef farmers are starting to work out their costs of production in particular since two new influences out with their control are starting to erode farm incomes; firstly modulation and this season, an increasingly competitive global beef market,” Steven explains. “These producers are being given the opportunity to benchmark themselves alongside others and the winners are already emerging; those rearing and finishing high performance Charolais crosses are in the vanguard. Charolais crosses are most cost effective, regardless of appetite, simply because they have that genetic ability to convert feed at a much higher rate and at an earlier age than any other Continental cross.”

 He adds: “Charolais was initially introduced to Alwent as a hobby, however it rapidly evolved to become a serious commercial venture which nowadays makes up a significant part of our overall farm income. Our goal is to offer naturally fed bulls with an average 400 day daily liveweight gain of 1.65kg to 1.7kg.” The Alwent herd is among the breed leaders in the north east with all its progeny heading towards being within the breed’s top 15% for both Beef and Calving Values.

 ·                     Drew Adam, of Newhouse of Glamis, Forfar, Angus has been elected BCCS president. His noted 50 cow Newhouse pedigree Charolais herd which he farms in partnership with son, Bob is renowned for producing consistent entries for the official Perth bull sales and maintaining itself within the top 10 herd averages. Drew is twice former BCCS chairman and also past president of Charolais International. “Since Charolais was introduced to Newhouse 34 years ago, it has faced competition from 11 different cattle breeds, however from an early stage we knew it had a major role to play as a business venture,” he explains. “Charolais has also provided me with the opportunity to meet with fellow breeders in the UK, and 18 other countries where I have had the privilege to trade or judge cattle. This new role presents me with another great opportunity to continue to promote the breed and enhance its presence throughout the UK, along with the eating qualities of British beef.”

 Iain Millar, Port of Menteith, Stirling is the society’s newly elected vice chairman. The latest members elected to BCCS Council are Martin Donaghy, Dungannon; Ben Harman, Chesham; Alasdair Houston, Gretna Green; and Alwyn Rees, Machynlleth.