PRODUCING strong and good quality commercial calves which can be sold straight off their mothers at a young age is never easy, but for one Perthshire farming family it is the superior weight gain attributes of the Charolais that makes the difference – and it’s a system that is most certainly paying its way. 
Andy Cameron, along with his wife, Pam and their two children, Ross and Joanne, who farm at Shanry – a 340-acre upland unit at Rait, near Scone – are strong believers in the Charolais breed, having used it as a terminal sire on their 70-cow herd for more than 20 years. 
“Our main aim is to produce a strong and saleable calf which can be sold off it’s mother between seven and nine months of age,” commented Andy, who took over the running of the business from his father, John, 25 years ago. 
“In these days of wafer-thin margins, a Charolais cross calf which is quick-growing, early maturing and easily fleshed, is one of the few commercial calves that has the chance of making profit for both the breeder and the finisher at the end of the day. 
“There is nothing easier sold in the store ring than a Charolais cross and even the Charolais cross heifers’ growth potential is similar to other breeds of stots. The Charolais breed gives the flexibility to finish stronger calves intensively or take them to the maximum weight off grass.
“They have great growth potential and can finish at a younger age too,” added Andy. 

The Scottish Farmer:

The last of the April-born heifer calves which will be sold in February at the Aberfeldy show and sale at UA, Stirling     

Proof of this is in the first batch of last year’s crop of Charolais cross calves which sold through United Auctions, Stirling, last October, when the Camerons sold eight-month-old stots to a top of £1110, averaging out at £1060 and 400kg. The heifers sold a month later and peaked at £1090 for the first prize pen of eight and cashed in to average £997 and at 406kg. 
And within that batch, there were a few Limousin cross calves bred out of heifers, which, despite being older, averaged out £137 less than the Charolais cross calves. 
“We have been fortunate the last few years to have had a few repeat buyers at UA, Stirling. It’s a great centre for selling as it’s location is second to none for attracting buyers north and south. In fact, a lot of our Charolais cross heifers sold there go north, while bullocks go south,” said Andy. 
Like many other beef farmers who use the Charolais as their terminal sire, it’s the Simmental cross suckler cow which fits best to the big, French breed and as a result, is this basis of this beef enterprise. The herd, which is spring calving due to the high cost of straw for bedding in the autumn and winter, are outwintered until calving kicks off. 
“The Simmental cross cow clicks nicely with the Charolais bull and they have a good temperament, which allows myself and Pam to easily work away with them ourselves. They’re docile animals and always give plenty of milk. 

The Scottish Farmer:

Shanry is an upland LFA farm situated between 500 and 850ft above sea level 

 “We are so fortunate to farm in a part of the country which allows us to outwinter the cows too. Not only does it reduce costs significantly, considering we have to buy in everything apart from home-grown silage, but it keeps them well exercised and fit but not too fat for calving,” said Andy.
While this is primarily a spring calving herd, calving kicks off in the last week of January and Andy finds that the extra costs occurred are offset by having a heavier calf to sell in the back end. The aim is to have the majority calved before lambing kicks off later in the season. 
Scanning, which is carried out by Archie MacGillivray, is particularly important for the Camerons as the calving shed can only hold between 15 and 20 cows at any one time, so with the help of accurate calving dates, this allows Andy and Pam to bring in cows off the hill as close to their calving date as possible. 
 “Although the cows are outwintered every year, we like to have them in for calving to avoid problems and to make sure calves are up and sooking. Once settled with their calves and moved over to another shed, they’re outside when the grass appears at the end of April or beginning of May,” explained Andy.

The Scottish Farmer:

A good sized calf just two days old with it’s strong, milky mother But, with just 3 barren cows at last year’s scanning and as a result, 91% calves sold, there were few if any calving problems. In fact, Andy commented that they have only had one caesarean in the past six years and that was due to a twisted stomach. 
“Since introducing the Charolais as our terminal sire 21 years ago, we have found we haven’t had to calve anymore cows to when we previously used Simmental bulls. Too many bad calvings are blamed on the bull but considering the amount of shapely cows with narrow pelvis’ which are kept nowadays, bad calvings can occur in any breed,” pointed out Andy.
He continued: “I would say the easy calving characteristic in the Charolais has improved since we began using the sire. The Charolais can also be used successfully over any size of cow that has a bit of width between her plates.”
Such is the easy calving, that cows at Shanry are fed a fairly basic diet, with home-grown silage fed all year round, supplemented with a lifeline bucket and an iodine bolus given six weeks before calving. Depending on the silage quality, some concentrates can be given after calving to give the cows that extra boost. 
Calves are offered creep feed (Harbro’s beef stock nuts) from late June onwards but Andy comments that due to the consumption of the cow’s milk, the calves don’t really start taking advantage of the feed until late August/September. 
While the oldest calves and the majority of stot calves are sold at UA’s spring show and sale in early October, younger calves and heifers are kept back for sale in November. However, this year, the Camerons have kept back six heifers to do the BVD screening and will be sold at the annual Aberfeldy show and sale held at UA, Stirling. 
Selling suckled calves is a relatively new market for the Camerons though, as before, male calves were finished for bull beef and sold between 11 and 13 months of age. But, due to the price of barley being so volatile, as well as more straw needed for bedded courts, the Camerons made a move from this system and have since seen a demand for suckler calves. They’ve also been able to concentrate more on the suckler cow in the winter. 

The Scottish Farmer:

At Shanry, they aim to buy big long, shapey stock bulls that have good tops and that are good on their legs. Breeding suckled calves, they also consider good growth weights and calving values of potential stock bulls. 
“The bull has to look the part but I would certainly take the figures into consideration,” pointed out Andy.
One of the best bulls ever purchased was Balthayock Gunsmoke – a Balmyle Churchill son which is still going strong at eight-years-old. He was bought in February 2013 and since then has produced growthy calves which have been easy calved. The fifth crop of calves from Gunsmoke are now on the ground this year. 
With all heifer calves sold off the farm, each year half a dozen BVD vaccinated bulling heifers are introduced to the herd, usually sourced from Stirling or Huntly and bought by Andy’s friend, Stuart Maitland. In the past, in-calf heifers have been bought at Thainstone. 
Outwith the beef enterprise, Shanry is home to 250 Cheviot Mule and Texel cross ewes which are tupped to the Texel and Charollais to produce lambs which are finished off grass and tail enders off rape, with a proportion of Texel ewe lambs sold privately. Seventy of those ewes lamb in March, while the remainder lamb alongside 130 ewes which the Camerons manage for the neighbouring unit, Balmyre. 
Given the fact that the Charolais has produced impressive weight gains in suckled calves which have left a reasonable margin at the end of the year for this business, there is no disputing that the Camerons are full of positivity for the Charolais breed’s future.