Auchincrieve gear up for Aberdeen-Angus sale at Carlisle

Charles and his mother, Elizabeth are in partnership with Charles’ wife, Gillian and their son, also Charles working at home full time. Last year’s string of nine bulls cashed in at just shy of £5000, which the team are hoping for the same result in just a few weeks’ time.

“Carlisle has come good for us the last three or four years, due to the time we calve at the bulls are at a better age to suit the sale. There seems to be quite a strong demand at that time of year as well with farmers looking for bulls to go straight out to cows,” said Charles, who also sells one or two in October at Stirling, running a herd of 145 beef cows with the majority pure bred including 20 Charolais cows.

The previous top price for the herd was achieved in 2019 at Carlisle when Auchincrieve Exodus sold for 13,000gns after standing junior champion. Since then, he has sired a calf to 30,000gns.

This year’s team is sired by Rodmead Primero, Blelack Prince Cooper and Wolflaw Irn Bru. Primero previously sired Exodus as well as the pre-sale champion, Auchincrieve Excalibur last year which went on to make 6500gns, and has made a real mark in the herd in previous years, whilst it is the first crop of calves offered for sale from Prince Cooper and Irn Bru, both of which were bought in February 2020 at Stirling.

“When buying or selling a bull we first and foremost look at the physical appearance of the animal. It has got to show breed character, being a lengthy animal with a well filled top, an all-round good beef animal. We do look into breeding as well, but the presence is everything for us,” said Charles.

“We use the Angus for their mothering ability they are very milky cows that look after their calve well plus they are easy calving, the Charolais is a slightly more aggressive breed just being a little bit more nervous but again are good mothers.

“The two breeds combined produce a fast growthy calf which is what we are looking for. At the end of the day our main motto is: if they weigh, they pay and we are looking for that in both breeds,” said Charles with the majority kept pure and anything that does not go on for breeding will be finished on farm.

The team’s small herd of Charolais cattle, witnesses the breeding bulls sold in March at the Spring Show at Thainstone, having previously sold through Stirling the top price of 8800gns was achieved at the first Bull Sales staged at Stirling in the form of Auchincrieve Detroit.

“Again, we are looking for that same physical presence. We want something for its ease of calving but will add a bit of shape onto the Angus to get us the good grades when we hang them up,” added Charles.

The team keep around 30 breeding bulls between the two breeds, in which 10-12 will be sold through auction markets annually with the remaining being slaughtered around 14-16 months of age. All steers and heifers not retained in the herd for future breeding will also be finished aiming for that 400kg deadweight. Around 90 of these will head to Woodhead, Turriff annually with the occasional one or two going to APB.

“We used to get a strong Angus premium at APB but it has dropped in recent times due to the supply and demand, there are a lot more Angus about, as the popularity in the breed has grown,” said Charles, with most grading in at Rs and Us, with 30-40% being Us.

“We are finishing them on weight not on age, so it is import that their daily live weight gain is strong. You can only sell them once so you want to get the best condition on them you can however, we are penalised once they kit the 410kg mark,” said Charles, which requires careful selection.

The McCombie family have always taken the cattle right through to finishing as they believe the returns are better, although with the price of barley this year that might be a different story. The feeder cattle are fed home grown cereals of barley and silage along with either dark grains or pot ale syrup as a protein balancer.

The cows housed through the winter will be fed 90% silage along with 9% straw and 1% of pot ale syrup prior to calving, and once calved barley will be added to their diet.

Calving takes place from the end of January right through to April inside, with everything being bred pure apart from the Charolais heifers which will go to the Angus bull for one year.

“We want a simple system that works well, and we think we have found it, we have been lucky not to have too many calving problems over the years. The cows get on with it themselves through the night we don’t disturb them,” added Charles, with all cattle housed on straw bedding before being put into batches once calved ready to hit the grass at the start of May.

The cattle come in from October as the land is heavy at Huntly and simply cannot carry the cows for long. As the team still require to make silage to feed them through the winter with 120acres chopped on first cut and depending on the yield 60 to 80 acres will be lifted second cut.

“The price of Fertiliser this year is making it very difficult to justify. So, we are trying to reduce the nitrogen used this year on cereals and on grass fields,” said Charles.

“My idea is to keep the feeding stock inside to push them on quicker and get them finished and off farm sooner than usual to reduce the requirement for making as much silage. This will leave more grass for the cows which will be put out to grass in a few weeks being more spread out to help cope with the grass growth.

“The rising costs of the three Fs – fuel, fertiliser and feed – are making life even more challenging, but it is an opposition we as an industry will overcome.

“This isn’t the only concern for the industry, the lack of people particularly in livestock farms is another huge worry for the future. Young people need to see agriculture as a good employment prospect and come into the industry, however the high wages in various other sectors are a deterrent to that.

Charles best advice for someone starting out was: “Start with plenty of money, it is a very difficult business to begin now. The job is a lifestyle, but it is worth every minute. Stick at it!”

“People like eating beef so I would like to hope there are still plenty of farmers out there breeding suckler cows in years to come,” added Charles, who is trying to reduce that public expectation gap through the show circuit and showcasing what the industry has to offer.

The Black Beauty Bonanza being the main show, which is held annually at Thainstone Agriculture Centre. The team have previously taken every champion apart from the senior male, with just last November securing the heifer calf champion and champion pair of calves.

Through the summer it is more local shows for the herd, having previously exhibited at the Royal Highland Show, but due to time commitments had to give it up to focus on the main business of the farm. The best award at Ingliston was in 2014 when the team took home the junior female champion with Auchincrieve Etna, which went on to be part of the reserve inter-breed group.

“Shows are a great shop window for future sales, you can watch what is breeding well in the circuit and follow the genetics in each breed. They are also a great eye opener for the public to engage with the farming community,” said Charles.

“It is important we reduce this gap and consumers can understand where their food is coming from. The country importing food makes us look like a fool. The standard we are required to produce food is very high, and it is insulting to the industry to import beef from other countries that do not follow the same standards as us.

“Although beef is currently at a record high price and continues to crawl towards what is needed, the soaring costs are keeping well up to date. I don’t think the £5 per kg will come very quickly or very easily but it is what is needed in the industry with the increasing costs. Consumers are resistant to paying the increase price of beef, and it will take time to get used to these higher prices,” concluded Charles.

Farm Facts

Background: Charles grandfather bought Auchincrieve in 1936, with the fourth generation now coming through.

Involvement: Charles and his mother, Elizabeth are in partnership of Auchincrieve. Charles’ wife, Gillian is in charge of the lambing shed and their son, also Charles works at home full time. Their other children, Ben, Emily and Lucy work in other professions.

Livestock numbers: 145 beef cows of which 20 are Charolais with the remaining being Aberdeen-Angus, which is complimented by 350 breeding ewes.

Breeding plan: The poorer end of the Angus go to the Charolais with everything else being kept pure. Breed and feed all their own cattle aiming to sell 10-15 breeding bulls a year, with everything else sold for fat.

Farm acreage: 550 owned acres with a further 220 acres rented. Grow 350 acres of malted barley, what the team don’t sell will be fed to the cattle.

On the spot questions

Best investment: Rodmead Primero.

Best advice: If you try something new, allow it time to work. For cattle that is a very long time.

Favourite quote: Live as if you are going to die tomorrow and farm as if you are going to live forever.

Biggest achievement: Selling Exodus for 13,000gns as well as winning the junior champion at RHS in 2014.