Beef cattle: Easy-care Salers ring the changes for Atkinsons

They farm 140 all-grass upland SDA acres on the flood plain of the River Tees at Mickleton Mill, near Barnard Castle, and until 2017 the farm had been carrying a herd of British Blue and Limousin crosses out of dairy breeding. The Atkinsons wanted to improve on the herd’s productivity and profitability, but found it hard to benchmark what they were achieving because of the year-round calving pattern, and poor fertility and productivity of the cattle in general.

“We had a handful of Salers commercial cows among a variety of cross-breds in the herd we bought about 12 years ago and we liked them and they just clicked with us, so we intended to start breeding our own replacements with a Salers bull bought from North Yorkshire breeder, Angus Gowthorpe,” said Thomas.

“But we were getting problems with disease coming through from the bought in cows, alongside calving problems and high antibiotic use in calves that didn’t get enough colostrum, or had a stressful start in life due to a bad calving. It felt like we were putting a sticking plaster over a crack in a dam. So we made a radical decision and scrapped the system and started again,” he added.

Catherine said: “Thomas, in particular, had looked at every possible breed – Angus, Shorthorn, Stabiliser – and we decided on the Salers because we wanted a true maternal breed with no terminal traits and we were wanting to get away from anything with the myostatin gene.

The Salers fit the system, being good mother and plenty of milk for the calf Ref:RH150322069 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer...

“Salers at the time and is still currently, the only breed that banned registration of progeny from cattle with myostatin. It has been shown to negatively affect milk production and we wanted milky cows to give calves the best possible start, for good daily liveweight gain throughout life,” said Catherine. “Another huge selling factor of the breed is how well and consistently the cows cross with a Charolais bull.”

Now, the ease of management with the Salers has enabled the Atkinsons, who have help from two young men, one of them an apprentice, to set up another income stream – rearing and finishing calves bought from local dairy farms. They also run a large static caravan site on the farm and have a flock of 150 breeding sheep.

Mickleton Mill has a 91-pitch static holiday caravan park which was established in 1963 Ref:RH150322077 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer...

In 2017, they sold all of their commercial cattle – around 80 head, 30 of which were sold as breeders and the rest they finished for the cull market which was buoyant at the time. The herd was re-established with 90 Salers.

This comprised 80 heifers and 10 cows with calves at foot, and around 40 of these were pedigrees imported from France but at the time they did not register, partly because they planned to run the herd commercially. UK herds they bought from were Bacardi, Seamore, Harperley, Parkfield, and Approach Farm Salers.

Mickleton Mill has a 91-pitch static holiday caravan park which was established in 1963 and at the time Thomas was busy taking over the running of the business from his parents, Keith and Carole, so registering the herd and calves was put on hold until 2018.

Since then, they have been bitten by the pedigree bug and are enjoying this new dimension to cattle breeding as well as the social interaction and knowledge sharing with other breeders at events when have been happening.

The Atkinsons have been selective in breeding up the herd, focusing on good temperament, DLWG of progeny and reducing disease. The imported cattle which remained in the herd have been registered thanks to work from Sian Sharpe, at the Salers Cattle Society. This year, 120 cattle have gone to the bull – 90 of which are pedigree and almost half of these home-bred and the rest commercial.

Yearling heifers out enjoying the Spring sun, these heifers are being kept as herd replacements Ref:RH150322091 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer...

Over the winter, 35 in-calf heifers have been sold for breeding with more sold last year, many of them going to newly-established herds. Females which are sold have usually run with the bull and are due to calve at two years old or with calf at foot, as proof of fertility. For next year, the Atkinsons will be retaining the remainder of the females and consolidating and improving the herd, which is running at the optimum size for the farm.

Catherine has been the Salers Cattle Society’s council member for their area since November 2021 and is keen to promote the breed in the north. There has been increased interest in the breed in the last few years, with several new members setting up pedigree in the region and bulls being used commercially on beef and dairy farms.

“The wonderful thing about Salers is because they have a calf every year, it doesn’t take long to build up herd numbers. Already, we have four generations on the ground which we’ve retained,” said Catherine. “Our ideal female Salers has a high milk EBV, large pelvic measurement, good temperament, tidy bag, mature weight of around 600-700kg.

“She must be able to wean a calf at 200 days that weighs around 50% of its dam’s mature weight. With the commercial cattle, we wouldn’t wean the calves until 10 months, whereas this has now changed to seven months.

“From 200 days old, calves are taking very little milk off their mothers so we save on feed and the cows dries off on a grass and straw diet, plus the straw in the dung produces good organic matter to put back on the land,” added Catherine.

The high level of fertility in both the cows and bulls has enabled the Atkinsons to block calve the herd for eight weeks from the beginning of March. While AI has been tried, the herd is run with with three Salers bulls and a Charolais, the latter put to the bottom 25% of the herd.

The herd is run with with three Salers bulls and a Charolais, the latter put to the bottom 25% of the herd Ref:RH150322064 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer...

Catherine said: “The cows are so fertile that we’ve found running them with the bull is far easier so why complicate it? Two of the bulls are of Barcardi breeding. with the third a French-bred bull bought from Ireland. where the breed is popular."

In their stock bulls the Atkinsons look for good growth rates, good feet and legs, be fertile and bull cows quickly. They also want a thick topline/back and good depth, good fat covering so progeny finishes fast and kills out well. For bulls used to breed replacements, they also require that they have a large pelvic area and small birth weights.

Bulls are taken out after eight weeks. As much as 80% of the herd holds to first service and calves within a tight four-week period. Heifers are run with the bull earlier than the cows to calve from mid-February at two years old, which gives them extra time to grow and recover from calving before joining the main herd the following year. The aim is to have an average bulling weight for heifers of 450kg.

With so many females sold, this year there are fewer heifers to calve which Catherine hopes will make for a more relaxed calving as, even though the heifers calve with ease it can still be hectic. The herd is Breedplan recorded, but the Atkinsons also record every animal on a spreadsheet for average birth weight, average weaning weight, 100 day and 200 day weight.

Thomas said: “We are ruthless at culling out cows with bad temperament. We expect them to be bombproof, with the exception of that 24 hours after calving – but if it happens the following year at calving, she goes. The tight calving pattern doesn’t just get calving over quickly but it means other tasks like vaccinating and de-horning can be done at one go with a group of similar aged calves.

“People might argue that calving all year round helps cash flow, but we can calculate when our bulls will be finished at 15 months old and when we will get that income. We like to be able to do that,” added Thomas.

All the male calves are left entire – a system which the Atkinsons have always worked with – but only a handful of pedigrees are selected early on for breeding and they are fed a non-barley diet to help avoid feet and lung problems.

Best investment has been the Q-Catch crush with shedding gate and adjustable races Ref:RH150322079 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer...

Depending on forage stocks, ideally the prime bulls will be finished on silage and barley, or concentrate or, if need be, finished on a barley diet to a higher weight. The aim is to target feed at the animals which will get the most out of it. They are sold deadweight to ABP using their VIA 15-point classification grid with a target deadweight of 380-400kg.

Last year (2021) the 2020 born pure Salers bulls averaged R2+, at deadweight 376kg at 15 months old. The Charolais cross Salers bulls averaged U2+ at deadweight 406kg at 15 months.

With the former system, all heifers were sold finished at 24 months old at a deadweight of 350kg. Now, they are all sold for breeding and a lot earlier off the farm.

DLWg for bulls ranges from 1.18kg/day to 1.4kg/day, while heifers range from 0.77kg/day to 1.11kg/day – both over their first year. Any heifer with a DLWG of under 0.8kg/day is not retained for breeding. Average birth weights are heifers 34kg and bulls 38kg.

“The heifers are very good to sell but we see there is room for improvement with the bulls. We are finding the Salers to be far more profitable than the previous system. We’re selling 96% of calves from the cows we have now compared with 84% previously. By changing breeds, we have greatly increased the number of cattle we’re selling pro rata,” pointed out Catherine.

“The Salers can produce a calf every year which is worth a lot, even if you receive slightly less money for them. I would estimate we get £80 a head less for our bulls now, but because we are selling more cattle pro rata and our input costs are significantly lower, our overall profit has increased on 100 cows across the board.

“A big change is that our vet and meds bill, rather than going on illness and fire brigade treatments, is now being spent on general pedigree work and testing,” she added. The herd is in the SAC Premium Cattle Health scheme and is testing for Johnes and IBR, and is BVD accredited.

New shed which is being used to house the cows that are due to calf Ref:RH150322060 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer...

The farm’s dry, free draining, gravelly land on the old River Tees flood plain allows the Salers to be housed for as short a period as possible and the Atkinsons are prepared to sacrifice a field and re-seed it to save on the cost of straw. Housing is not usually until into December and yearling heifers are outwintered with feed. Calving is inside for ease of management with tagging and disbudding.

With land at a premium in the area and the Atkinsons focusing on their 140 owned acres, as a means of expanding the business, last year they decided to start buying in dairy calves, mostly for finishing. These were bought from neighbouring dairy farms at two to four weeks old and are mainly bulls which have been put to the Salers or British Blues.

The Atkinsons have built a large handling area with under cover race and crush to make handling cattle more efficient Ref:RH150322066 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer...

There are 350 head housed on the farm for finishing by 16 months when they will be sold to ABP. A further 60 calves are being reared for Buitelaar. Thomas is building extra accommodation for loose housing the calves, using second hand buildings.

Heifers are fed a forage-based diet and while some may be sold for breeding, the majority will be sold at up to 16 months old. Bulls are fed ad-lib concentrate and will be finished as early as 13 months. All are sold deadweight to ABP.

Expanding the business last year dairy calves are bought in for finishing Ref:RH150322076 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer...

The farm also has a flock of 150 Aberfield ewes, which are put back to the Aberfield ram and ram lambs and females not kept as replacements are finished off the farm and sold liveweight off grass from 16 to 20 weeks old. The ewes are mainly kept for Catherine to train working Kelpies – she has been involved with the breed since she got her first in 2017.

“We wanted a couple of good dogs because with only Thomas and me on the farm a lot of the time we felt a good dog could take the place of a person in a lot of situations and it means I can work by myself,” said Catherine.

“We found with the Kelpies that they work very much off their own instinct and brain, and we liked them – but I prefer to train them with sheep not cattle, even though they make really good cattle dogs when trained.”

Catherine has bred and exported some Kelpies to Israel, Italy, France, Ireland and Czech Republic, but has also imported some from Australia, the Netherlands and France.

Her main focus, however, has been to re-train dogs rescued from pet homes and training working dogs for other owners.