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Shorthorn Strategy - by Ian Ashbridge
Slow-grown Native Beef Proves Healthier - by Jeremy Hunt
Scottish bulls leave their mark upon German Shorthorns - by Claudia Zettler
The Buccleuch Estates, Bowhill Estate - by Liz Snaith
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MARK’S WINNING COMBINATIONS - by Jennifer MacKenzie
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The Buccleuch Estates, Bowhill Estate - The Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry
Article written by Liz Snaith
| Farm Facts The Buccleugh Estates |
| Livestock: 100 pedigree Aberdeen Angus cows, 300 commercial suckler cows put to Charolais bulls, 100 Aberdeen Angus/Angus cross cows put to Shorthorn bulls, 1,300 mule type ewes and 2,500 Scotch Blackface ewes. |
| The farm: Bowhill Estate runs to approximately 8,000 acres, including 6,000 acres of grouse moor and 2,000 acres of grassland with kale and spring barley for feed. |
| Other business interests: Bowhill House and Estate are open to the public and the Buccleuch Estates incorporates a portfolio of seven other associated businesses. |
| Contact: Farms manager Drew Guthrie
+44(0)7733 121185 aguthrie@buccleuch.com www.buccleuch.com |
For more than seven centuries the Scotts of Buccleuch have been part of Scottish Borders history and their principal house, Bowhill is today home to the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry and a part of the internationally renowned Buccleuch art collection.
The Buccleuch Estates encompass four separate traditional Scottish estates, including Bowhill, and one in Northamptonshire, covering an area of 280,000 acres of which 34,000 acres are farmed in hand.
The farms are managed by Drew Guthrie who introduced the Beef Shorthorn and Aberdeen Angus to the livestock business after he originally took over as farm manager at the 8,000 acre Bowhill 23 years ago.
Bowhill has a self-contained herd of 400 commercial suckler cows, either Shorthorn or Angus crosses, predominantly sired by the Shorthorn, which are then crossed with the Charolais as a terminal sire.
Partly with difficulties in finding Angus cross Friesian type of cows, an Angus herd was started in 1994 and the intention is to run 100 pure bred and 100 cross bred Angus.
Up to 400 crossbred steers and heifers are finished each year and marketed through the estates’ own brand, Buccleuch Heritage Brands, and selling to top hotels and restaurants in Scotland and London.
“We initially started using the Beef Shorthorn bull on our Angus crosses to get some shape back because we were finding it difficult to get traditional Angus Friesian crosses,” says Drew, who has now handed over the management of Bowhill farm to Sion Williams.
“We quickly began to see that the Shorthorns were good mothers with plenty of milk and they were hardy and able to withstand outwintering on kale - and we progressed from there with the suckler herd. They are a good cow to work with. Principally, we use the Charolais to produce a bigger carcase,” he adds.
All the Shorthorn cross heifers are retained for breeding and all have high health status with the herd certified under CHeCS (Cattle Health Certification Standards UK), a self-regulatory body for Cattle Health Schemes in the UK, which pays dividends in terms of provenance for the Buccleuch marketing scheme and it is also proving an added bonus for sales of surplus heifers which are attracting a premium.
Drew wanted to run suckler cows bred from traditional bloodlines to enhance the eating qualities of the carcase through its marbling of fat and while this alone is not earning any premium he believes it is important to supply customers with the right product - the proof of which is the success of the brand.
Up to a maximum of three Shorthorn bulls are run, selected on their health status, milk and ease of calving and feet and locomotion. The bull must be pleasing to the eye but colour is irrelevant. Bulls used have been from the Tofts, Chapelton and Cairnsmore herds and have been active at up to 13 years old.
With a close eye on inputs, up to 300 of the spring calving sucklers are outwintered on kale and barley stubbles at Bowhill. Cattle are finished on a cost-effective diet of home produced wholecrop wheat, grass silage, barley, beans and bought-in minerals on the Drumlanrig Estate in Dumfriesshire.
At Bowhill, 6,000 acres of the estate are grouse moors while the remainder of the land is shared by the cattle and 1,600 mule type ewes which are being bred for an easy-care type of system using New Zealand hybrid genetics, with finished lamb being sold into a Marks and Spencer scheme. The Blackface wedder lambs off the hill are sold to Sainsbury.
