Breeding quality livestock of any sort is never easy and producing some of the best pedigree cattle on a regular basis requires dedication, ability, passion, and a keen stockman’s eye.
Granted, a good deal of luck is also required, but such talents appear to be second nature at Mains of Elrick – home of Mike and Lisa Massie and their daughters, Eliza, Kate, and Jess.
Such is the ability of Mike and the team, that the family regularly produces high-priced bulls from not just one breed, but two, with the Elrick prefix from Ellon, well known in Charolais and Limousin circles.
Both breeds have produced champion winners at the Stirling Bull Sales and at their local Thainstone Mart and both regularly hit the headlines with high four and five-figure prices. Topping the list is Elrick Charolais which has sold to 25,000gns, 17,000gns, 16000gns, and multiple 15,000gns, while the Limousins have hit highs of 15,000gns.
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Their Charolais naturally stem back to the family farm at Blelack, Aboyne, with Mike founding the herd on 10 females from home when he and Lisa moved to the 320-acre rented unit at Mains of Elrick, almost 30 years ago.
In contrast, the Limousins can be traced back to females bought at the Crownhead and Peasley dispersals at Carlisle, alongside the purchase of Goldies Isodora which has been flushed over the years producing several top bulls and stock cows.
“I was brought up with Charolais, so I’ll always have a soft spot for them but I also wanted something different that was a good all-round beef animal and was easy kept and had a good carcase, and that’s where the Limousin came in,” said Mike, who believes there will always be a demand for both breeds.
“The Limousin is shapier and slightly easier kept and the Charolais has the power, size, and scale, which means both breeds work well in Aberdeenshire.
“The Charolais has improved the most in recent years with the breed now a good, manageable size. They’re a lot easier calved and fleshed than they used to be and they milk just as well as a Limousin. Charolais will always be bigger than Limousin cattle but there is a good, strong demand for both.”
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Mike also believes it is easier selling Charolais bulls when there is such a strong demand for cross-bred calves in Aberdeenshire. However, he is the first to admit both breeds have to have easy calving figures to command premium prices when it comes to selling bulls.
What adds to the challenge in breeding Limousin bulls is the fact that some beef farmers actively seek out the muscly Q gene in a bid to breed potential show calves with extra shape and muscle.
It’s a situation that makes sourcing a new stock bull at Mains of Elrick that bit more taxing – in both breeds. Add in the fact that many of the larger herds have dispersed, or rely on flushing, and sourcing an out-cross with a good shape, length, style, and locomotion and the figures to match is much more difficult than it used to be.
With fewer breed sales and significantly smaller numbers forward compared to previous years, the issue is further accentuated.
“I would always look at the bull before figures, but you do need good easy calving figures in both breeds,” said Mike who in recent years has concentrated on selling bulls through United Auctions, Stirling, and Thainstone, because he looks to breed bigger, stretchier bulls.
In the early days, frozen semen mostly from Wilodge Vantastic was used in the Limousin herd, alongside the stock bulls, Blelack Legend, a Ronick Gains son, and Ryedale Paragon which did a good job in breeding a number of top bulls and females. Craigatoke Dundee followed by selling sons to 12,000gns and producing Elrick Gagrielle, which has proved to be a great breeder.
More recently, the home-bred stock bull, Elrick Jethro, a son of Rahoney Geoffrey bred from the Wilodge Vantastic daughter, Elrick Fiona, has made his mark having bred sons to 10,000gns.
And, just last year, Elrick Roosevelt, another by Jethro, but out of Elrick Gagrielle, secured the overall championship at Stirling in February, before going on to sell for 10,000gns to Richard Temple.
Adding to that success, the couple landed the pre-sale championship at the February sales this year with Elrick Shogun, one of the first sons to be sold by the new stock sire, Whinfellpark Nobu, a 7000gns purchase, out of an Elrick Jethro heifer. He went on to top the sale at 15,000gns selling to Ballinloan, while their reserve winner the same day made 8000gns
Progeny of the most recent Limousin purchase, Maraiscote Ribery, a Bassingfield Machoman son bought for 16,000gns from Ian Nimmo, also looks the business with the first sons just hitting the ground now.
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In the past decade, Elrick Limousin has secured no fewer than six overall championships and four reserves at Stirling, while the Charolais enterprise, which has sold more five-figure priced bulls, has produced the one supreme.
Several top stock bulls have been used in the white herd, including Blelack Roger; the 17,000gns 11,000gns Maerdy Dublin, and Coolnaslee Adversary.
Other star performers include the former overall Stirling champion, Thrunton Fearless, a Burradon Talisman son bought from the Campbell family for 16,000gns which although had bad calving figures, was used on heifers without any issues.
“Fearless is probably the best bull we’ve ever bought as he produced a lot of five-figure priced bulls and a lot of the females in the herd now, are daughters of his,” said Mike who reckons the only reason they were able to buy him was because of his poor calving figures. He also boasted easy-fleshed characteristics and never lost condition – a trait he passed on to his progeny.
The all-French bull, Maerdy Gouverneur, purchased privately as a senior bull from Esmor Evans, is another that had a huge impact on the herd with sons to 25,0000gns, 16,000gns, and 15,000gns twice. At last count, his sons grossed £183,000 averaging in excess of £9000 for 20. A complete outcross and purchased for his easy calving figures he was also the sire of the best team of three bulls – two years in succession at Stirling.
All heifers calve at 30 months of age with most of the herd calving inside from the end of March through to early June, although a few do calve in the autumn. Once calved, they’re outside as soon as they’ve suckled and are strong enough, with creep feed introduced a month before housing, at the end of August.
While the two herds are obviously kept separate when they run with the bull during the summer months when they come inside for the winter at the end of November when they are all kept in the one shed and fed a dry cow ration comprising 10kg of straw, silage, and Harbro minerals.
Speaned calves are split between heifers and bulls and introduced to a total mixed ration comprising the best quality silage, home-grown bruised barley, and minerals. However, both lots of youngstock are summered outside with young bulls for the October sales at Stirling selected in August and brought inside for halter training. Bulls for the February sales are left outside until November and then brought in for training.
It’s a policy that to date is bearing fruit with 20 bulls in total sold per year between the two Stirling sales in February and October and the Spring Show at Thainstone. The couple also sell half a dozen at home privately.
Only the best quality females are retained for breeding, with the remainder either sold privately or sold fat through Aberdeen and Northern Marts’ primestock sale at Thainstone.
The Massies have also flushed a few of their best Charolais and Limousin cows to include the dam of the 25,000gns Elrick Outlaw, Elrick Florida that also produced the supreme champion at Stirling, Elrick Malt; Elrick Jossie, and Elrick Caroline.
Elrick Gagrielle, the dam of the 10,000gns Elrick Roosevelt, has also been flushed, with all eggs put into Simmental females.
“We don’t want to go using our own pedigree cows as recipients and we find Simmentals make for excellent recips when they are good big quiet cows and they have plenty of milk,” said Mike.
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Unfortunately, the family won’t have any Limousin bulls forward for the October sales at Stirling, although they do have five Charolais entered to include four by the 16,000gns joint purchase, Ballinalare Phantom.
They also have an embryo-born bull which is the result of a flush from Elrick Caroline, whose sons have sold to 17,000gns to average £8000, and sired by Maerdy Ignition.
Stirling Bull Sales are not just about business though as the whole family looks forward to them every year, albeit fewer of them as time goes by with Eliza now working as an accountant for Deloittes in Glasgow, while Kate who graduated with her degree in Rural Business Management from SRUC in Edinburgh, is just back from working on a pedigree Wagyu farm in Australia and Jess is studying to be a primary school teacher.
Farm Facts:
Family farm: Mike and Lisa Massie, with part time help from Darren Hall.
Livestock: 90 pedigree cows split 50:50 between Charolais and Limousins and 250 Mule ewes crossed to Texel tups with all progeny sold finished off grass.
Farm tenancy: Long-term tenancy totalling 320acres from Aberdeen Endowment Trust.
Cropping: 70-80acres of feed barley grown for home use and to sell with straw for animal bedding.
On The Spot:
Biggest achievement?: My three lovely daughters!
Best investment?: Maerdy Gouverneur, the cheapest stock bull we have ever bought, producing the highest price.
Where do you see yourselves in 2033? Old…..Hopefully, they pass the reigns over to the next generation but still breeding quality cattle.
What would you do differently if you had the chance? Would have tried to buy land if we could have.
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