Why Choose a Charolais

The Scott family: Nicola, Toby, Peter, Peter, Beatrice, Petrina and Jack

The Scott family, Peter, Beatrice and their daughters, Nicola and Petrina run Kingswaey, a typical Cornish coastal farm rising steeply from sea level near Tintagel to over 1,000’ on LFA land reclaimed from Bodmin Moor. The unit comprises almost 700 acres of mainly grass carrying 170 Charolais cross cows and followers with progeny taking through to finishing, together with 150 ewes.

Charolais has been used as a terminal sire at Kingswaey for more than 35 years because:

• It leaves calves with liveweight gain that is second to none
• There is no limit to the weight they can achieve – our calves finish at 400kgs deadweight from 20 months off least cost forage and grass based diets
• In calf Charolais cross dams can be outwintered because they are more thicker skinned than other Continental crosses
• Charolais cross calves have dominant colour markings which provides a guarantee of their parentage

Alisdair, Jennifer and Willie Davidson

The Davidsons, Willie, Jennifer and their son, Alisdair farm Poldean, near Moffat, a 2,000 acre Border unit carrying 300 suckler cows, a mix of pedigree and commercial Salers, together with complementary flocks of Blackface and Lleyn ewes. Charolais is used over approximately half the herd to produce calves sold in the store ring at 11 to 12 months.

The Davisons believe the breed has a firm future at Poldean because:

• Under the new subsidy free regime, Charolais cross calves will come into their own as far as growth and conformation are concerned: there is nothing that can beat Charolais as a terminal sire
• Charolais fits very well with the easy care Salers suckler cow
• Charolais delivers a consistent product
• It also delivers a distinct colour code

Will and Gwilym Owen

Will Owen and his son, Gwilym, farm Braich y Saint, near Criccieth, a 380 acre owner occupied SDA unit with a further 120 acres of rented grazing carrying a split calving herd of 158 suckler cows and 900 hill ewes with lambs taken through to finishing off grass. The vast majority of calves are sold through the suckled calf ring with the cream of the crop being retained or sold for fat stock showing purposes.

Charolais was introduced to the Braich y Saint in 1975 and is now used over the entire herd including the heifers because:

• Charolais cross calves have good growth potential and very good daily liveweight gain
• They can be finished at various weights and ages
• Charolais throws very uniform calves
• Charolais crosses very well on Limousin cross cows

Howard and Edward Morgan

The Morgan brothers, Howard and Edward, farm 80 suckler cows and followers and a complementary flock of ewes and Pencelli Court, a 460 acre LFA tenanted unit based at Pencelli near Brecon.

Charolais has been used as the terminal sire at Pencelli Court to produce quality sucked calves for more than 25 years because:

• It leaves calves with unbeatable weight for age
• They have tremendous fleshing ability
• The quality conformation factor is equally important
• Charolais enables us to produce the best for our buyers

David Lawton

David Lawton manages one of Cumbria’s largest suckler herds where Charolais has been tried and tested on for 20 years. Greystoke Castle Farms, a 2,400 acres LFA hill unit based near Penrith carries 280 black suckler cows and a complementary flock of 2,700 ewes. Half the crop of Charolais cross calves are sold at seven months having achieved sufficient stature and growth to demonstrate a 50kg weight differential over all other suckled calves reared on similar systems.

Charolais delivers calves with:

• Tremendous docility
• The ability to fit into any system – grass based or intensive
• Weight for age, in particular the heifers have great growth potential

Simon and Susanne Frost

Simon and Susanne Frost are rearing and finishing Charolais crosses bred from their 110 cow spring calving suckler herd and also their heifer replacements based at Hopping Farm, Youlgrave, in Derbyshire. Bulls are finished in an average 342 days at 342kgs deadweight, and heifers at an average 334 days and 263kgs deadweight. Both Charolais cross bulls and heifers kill out to meet with the Frost’s processor’s specification. The results have helped position their unit in pole place in the University of Nottingham’s LFA costed farms

The following factors lend Charolais to be an important part of their system’s efficiency:

• Ease of calving
• Temperament
• Growth rate
• Consistency

Viv and Jill Sellick with sons, Ben and Andrew

Viv and Jill Sellick farm 80 spring calving and 40 autumn calving suckler cows all of which are put to the Charolais with progeny taken through to finishing, They also run 40 pedigree Charolais cows plus a complementary flock of 150 ewes on their two owner occupied Somerset units: a 300 acre lowland unit based at Escott, Williton, near Taunton, plus a nearby 250 acre hill farm, the majority of which is in the SDA running on to the edge of Exmoor.

Viv has more than 30 years of experience of using Charolais as the terminal sire breed over the entire herd because its leaves calves with:

• Weight for age
• Quality conformation
• They’re easy to calve
• And they suit farmer, the grader, the butcher and the consumer

Andrew, Roy, Robert and Jim McNee

At Woodend a 2,400 acre LFA unit, near Armadale, West Lothian the McNee family, Robert and Andrew, their father, Roy and uncle, Jim run a 430 cow suckler herd comprising 100 Luings bred pure, 100 Luing-Sims put to the Simmental and the remaining Sim-Luing cows put to the Charolais selected within the breed’s top 10% on Beef Value. Charolais cross Sim-Luing steers are traded as stores at 10 to 12 months along with the top end of the heifers, while the remaining heifers are taken through to finishing at 18 months, having reached a 350kg target weight and the majority grading U.

The McNees put all their Sim-Luings to the Charolais because it leaves calves:

• That are easily batched for the store ring in groups of a minimum six
• They are unsurpassed for growth and uniformity
• They have good conformation
• And they also value Charolais cross calves’ quiet temperament

Charolais is for us the icing on the cake in our system – Robert McNee

Lewis Forster

Lewis Forster runs 135 suckler cows and a complementary flock of 800 ewes at West Nubbock, a 460ha tenanted unit near Hexham. Charolais has made a recent comeback as the herd’s terminal sire after a 20 year absence because its ability to leaves calves of tremendous quality. Since restocking, Lewis Forster has been sufficiently pleased with his Charolais cross calves’ performance that he has no intention of using any other Continental terminal sire for commercial calf production.

West Nubbock’s Charolais cross calves are demonstrating:

• Superior natural liveweight gain for age
• Tremendous muscling
• They’re far easier to manage in terms of temperament
• And calving is simply not an issue