ABERDEEN-ANGUS beef is synonymous with superior eating quality – and it certainly is going by the succulent taste and flavour of the pure-bred Angus steaks from Angela McGregor’s farm shop – but the breed can also add another string to it’s bow as a producers of efficient, easily kept sucklers.
With demand for Aberdeen-Angus beef still on the up and as a result, membership and registrations to the society, junior vice-president, Angela McGregor, who runs the Newcairnie herd, Whiterashes, Aberdeen, believes more should be done to highlight the flexibility and feed conversion efficiency of the pure-bred female.
“Everything in beef cattle production should revolve around the suckler cow and the Angus pure-bred female is one of the easiest and most efficient to keep, with her progeny attracting a premium prices in the market place,” she said.
“People need to start looking at the cost of keeping cows, how long they last, how much milk they give, the quality of calf they produce and how efficient they are to keep. 
“Our Aberdeen-Angus cows, although registered, are run purely on a commercial basis and the aim is to produce calves weighing 50% of their mother’s weight at weaning without supplementary concentrates. They rarely have any problems calving, therefore there are never any issues with fertility and they last forever as a result,” she said.
In contrast to many who believe in the benefits of hybrid vigour for their cross-bred females, Angela said pure Angus cows are also far more efficient as breeding females, due to an ability to convert more cheaper forages into kg of meat.
Angela, who took over the management of the 200-cow Newcairnie herd from her father, William McGregor, in 1999, has remained dedicated to the Aberdeen-Angus as a breeding female. But she has also been inspired by the breed’s renowned eating qualities, having studied the subject in Australia, America and Japan.
It’s a topic she and the society intend exploring further at the Aberdeen-Angus World Forum – being staged later this year in June, at the Consumption to Conception Conference, in Edinburgh – with trials highlighting the true health benefits of Angus beef production in terms of reduced carbon emissions, due to its ability to convert more grass to beef and, as a result, increase levels of healthy omega 3 fats in the meat.
It was the breed’s superior eating quality that led Angela to open a farm shop some 12-14 years ago, when she moved north to live full time with her husband, Charlie Simmers, their son William (16) and daughter Amy (14) at Auchenhuive, instead of commuting back and forth from Fife – where the Newcairnie herd originated – to Aberdeenshire.
Such is the demand for her pure-bred beef, that around 60, mostly heifers, are killed through Scotbeef, Inverurie, to sell through the shop each year. It is hoped that this will increase with plans for future expansion into a coffee shop/tea room.
“We have sold the odd pedigree bull at Stirling, but I’d rather focus on what the animal is about – beef production,” said Angela, whose Angus herd and shop are run as two separate businesses from the 1000-acre arable farm at Auchenhuive.
In all, Angela rents 180 grassland acres from Charlie to provide grazing ground and grow silage for the cattle. She also buys feed barley and straw from the farm and relies upon full-time cattleman/tractorman, Jack Romanowski, to help out. 
The business is fortunate in that the cattle are able to be kept outside until the beginning of December when they come inside to straw bedded courts, on a ration of silage of straw. Heifers join the herd and calve at two years of age, calving down at the end of April/May, either inside or outside, depending on the weather.
Calving has few, if any, problems, with most calving themselves. But Angela is selective on the type of bulls used, selecting bulls on their size, mobility, calving figures, genetics and 400-day weights.
“We don’t concentrate solely on figures, but we do look at the EBVs, which is a good tool to use. We do look at the individual traits rather than the index, EBVs for for milk and calving, weight for an age. 
"We also look for bulls that will produce carcases with big rib eyes and average back-fat, but that are not too extreme.”
In previous years, the business has forked out up to 10,000gns for stock bulls, but it also relies on the best of the home-bred young bulls. Some of the top performers are sold for breeding and the remainder go at 12-14months of age through Scotbeef. 
Last year's crop averaged 340kg, with U and R4L carcases, at 387 days. The top end can easily finish in 12 months, reaching carcase weights of 370-plus kg, she added.
Heifers not retained for breeding are at grass for two summers and come inside after their second at the end of November to finish within a couple of months, from 22-months of age onwards. Most of these kill out at 305kg, with R4L and R4H carcases.
“Heifers can be finished as quickly or as slowly as you like and when I’m selling most of them through the shop, fat cover isn’t the same problem. In fact, most of my customers look for that bit extra of marbling, so are happy with the meat from R4H carcases.
“The good thing about Aberdeen-Angus beef is there is a guaranteed and growing market for it, which if we as producers continue to produce the right product, will ensure continued demand. 
"The other good thing is that Angus cattle are efficient feed converters and, therefore, finish quicker and easier. You can also run more Angus cows to the acre compared to continental breeds.”
While Angela has concentrated on pure-bred Angus, she did once experiment with a Limousin bull which saw the resultant progeny take much longer to finish on concentrate feeds.
She said the Angus cross and pure-bred heifers reached carcase size at an earlier age, with neighbours, who have used her bulls, saying that they have finished Angus crosses at 300kg carcase weight at just over a year old.
With several young bulls sold privately, Angela, does not have any bulls for the forthcoming Bull Sales at Stirling, but she will be keeping an eagle eye out for a potential stock bull.
It’s the females that take precedence at Auchenhuive, though. “Aberdeen-Angus are real dual-purpose cattle, but a pure Angus cow is one of the most efficient females as she can be crossed to any terminal sire and produce a calf that is easier to finish on cheaper forage-type feeds. 
"Pure Angus cows also produce a more consistent product and Angus beef is what the market wants.”