Easy-care cows are the key ingredient

"The Charolais was always my favourite breed up until we started relying on the Salers for our females and now I have to say the Salers is our No 1 breed, with the Charolais coming second," said Peter Watson, who farms no fewer than 440 Salers cows and Salers crosses at Darnford with his two sons, David and Adam.

"Salers make life so much simpler as they are so much easier managed. We no longer worry about going out in the morning at calving time, as there are just not the calving difficulties anymore.

"And, the calves are always quick to get to their feet and sook - and that's calving all the cows to a Charolais," Peter added.

"You can cross the Salers to any breed and they'll produce a good big calf. We've tried the Limousin, Simmental and the Charolais, but the Charolais produce the best calves."

Backing up these statements, David - who is just as enthusiastic about the breed and has introduced a small pedigree Salers herd of his own with his wife, Lynne - said: "Salers are a real easycare breed and although pedigree, are run as a commercial enterprise.

"They have changed the business for the better, as we now have a single maternal breed and single terminal sire which has allowed us to improve the consistency and the quality of our product," said David, who has not only sold bulls up to 6000gns at the breed sale at Castle Douglas but also produced some several show winners at the Highland Show in recent years.

With almost 30 pedigree Salers cows coming under the Darnford prefix, young bulls are also being used on the farm and sold privately to a growing number of commercial producers, helping to reduce input costs and also boost margins.

Until 2007, virtually all the cows on this upland unit situated on the banks of the River Dee, were continental crosses, with the heifers bulled to a Limousin and the Charolais used to cover the remainder of the herd.

But, following a particularly bad calving spell, when calves and breeding females were lost, the team looked to alternative suckler females and following a visit to the Borderway Agri Expo, at Carlisle, came across the Salers. That day, Yorkshire breeder, Rachel Hallows, convinced them of the merits of this hardy red French breed and their crosses.

Hence, at the breed sale at Castle Douglas that year, bulling heifers were purchased from Graham McClymont, Cuil; Alan Howatson, Risk; and the late Willie Davidson, Poldean. David also founded his Darnford herd that year too with the purchase of nine heifers from Cuil.

The first year these were bulled to a Limousin but the following year, the privately purchased Salers bull, Poldean Victor, was used over them with the female progeny retained as replacements.

Such has been the success of their breeding switch that the Watsons have increased commercial herd numbers from 250 in 2007, to the current 440.

Heifers are now all bulled to a Salers to breed replacements with cows all served by a Charolais.

Peter added: "We'll have had 1600 cows calved over the past five years - either outside in the autumn or inside on straw bedded courts - of which 95% of them are Salers or Salers crosses - and we've not had one caesarian.

"We check them about 11 at night at calving and if all is well, they're left until 5.30 the next morning. We do calve the odd one but that's only because of bad presentation."

And, with easier calvings, fertility is much improved to such an extent that only five of the 280 spring calvers were yeld this year, while the autumn calving herd saw nine of the 160 failing to hold to the bull.

Salers are also renowned for their great feet and udders, which, coupled with the breed's longevity, the family believe will enable more calves to be produced over the lifetime of the animal compared to other breeds or crosses.

The cows can also be fattened to big weights, with Salers cows having been sold at £1000 plus through Thainstone, in the past.

With the business extending to 1350acres, of which most is leased from Dunecht Estates, just over half is put down to cereals sown for home-grown feed and bedding or sold for malt, enabling all calves to be finished on farm.

"The Charolais and the Salers have the genetic potential to finish in the shortest period of time, with the calves easily gaining 2kg per day in the finishing period.

"All calves are electronically tagged and we weigh them every five to six weeks, so we do know what they're doing," added Peter, who is also vice-chairman of Aberdeen and Northern Marts.

The Watsons have also been experimenting with hybrid grass mixtures and have been so impressed with its yield increase in silage crops - four quality cuts were harvested last year - that this year they will be experimenting using it in an intensive grazing system in a bid to maximise stocking densities at grass.

It wasn't only the breeding and finishing policy at Darnford that enabled the family to win this prestigious competition run by QMS and AgriScot, though.

Adam's eagle eye on finances helped nudge them up the ladder as he regularly works out all costs of production, including feed rations, ensuring the most economical feed is used at all times.

"It's important to Adam to work out our costs, which has made a big difference. If you don't count it, you can't sort it - tweaking a ration slightly can make a huge difference to the cost of feed and any potential profits."

The Watsons rely a lot on bi-products and home-grown feeds, with top quality silage working out at £25 per tonne, while the remainder of the ration based on potatoes, turnips and draff costs £15 per tonne.

The ration - devised by Harbro consultant, David McKenzie, who works closely with the boys - when mixed through a feed wagon at 14kg silage plus 3kg blend, enables stots to put on 1kg per day at a cost of £8.50 per week, while the heifer ration works out at £7.50 to gain 0.7kg per head.

Different rations are devised according to the age and the sex of the calves too and for the weight the family aim to finish their cattle at.

There can be four different feeds on the go at any one time but, in general, heifers are given a higher protein ration (17%) with less starch, to maximise growth without putting on too much fat, while young bulls and stots are given a 16% protein feed.

In recent months, all stots have been sold locally at 400-420kg DW at 20-22 months, with young Salers bulls cashed within 16 months up to 380kg and heifers to the same weight at 18-19 months.

"Cattle prices have dropped more than 35p per kg in the past two months, which works out at £100 per head and add to that the reduction in weight from 450 to 400kg that processors are willing to pay for, and finishers are potentially losing even more money. We were making money three months ago, but it's more difficult now," added Peter.

Three families are relying on an income here, too, as outwith Peter; there is David, and his wife, Lynne, who is a self employed beautician, and Adam, his wife, Aynsley, a school teacher, their three-year-old son, Xander and year-old Vivienne, all in the mix.

They also have part-time assistance to pay for, but feel fortunate to have local farmers, Allan Melvin, Grant Milne and Linda Stewart, working for them on a part-time basis while Linda Stewart keeps on top of the paper work.

While it's a difficult time for all in agriculture, with improved levels of efficiency and new technology, Peter, David and Adam remain hopeful for the future.