Cattle

It has long been our wish to have our own suckler herd at the farm and in early November 2009 we finally took the plunge. We considered many breeds but have settled on Beef Shorthorns for their temperament, look and traditional qualities. Ian’s father used to keep Shorthorns here so it seemed fitting to carry on the family tradition.

Shorthorns at rest - some of the new South Yeo herd

We started slowly with 2 in-calf cows and 3 youngsters. The cows calved in May 2010 so we now have 1 red and white Shorthorn cow with her Hereford x Shorthorn heifer calf, a Whitebred Shorthorn cow with her beautifully marked white-roan Shorthorn heifer calf, along with 2 Shorthorn yearling heifers, one roan and one white, and finally one red and white steer. The intention is to grow the heifers on as foundation breeding stock and the steer will ultimately go for beef - although it will be a long wait until we have beef for sale - likely 2011! We hope to add a few more animals in 2010, then breed our own from there on. They have settled well, like a rub, and will readily follow a feed sack which makes it easy to move them around the farm to a field of fresh grass. The calves particularly like rounding up sheep if they happen to be in the same field which is amusing to watch!

Roan Heifer Calf

Our long-term plan is to run a herd of up to 25 suckler cows with their followers; however, the breed we ultimately hope to build up is the Speckle Park. This recently introduced breed has been developed and standardized in Canada by breeding shorthorns to Angus bulls resulting in an attractive black and white animal with characteristic white top-line and belly with a speckled rump or White Park type colouring. Speckle Parks are hardy docile animals, are naturally polled, and have quickly established a reputation for a high quality carcass. It is the first breed that both of us agreed on instantly and for us has the ‘wow’ factor.

Speckle Park being shown at Devon County Show 2009

Watch this space to see how we get on…