BREEDING and bringing out the best in any breed is far from easy, especially when you’re in the process of rebuilding a pedigree herd. But, for the Cleasby family from Tower Sowerby, near Penrith, who have invested in females with some of the best bloodlines, their Cleaden Charolais herd has gone from strength to strength.
Based at their 150-acre unit, Crowdundle Park Farm, Michael and wife, Angela, their son Will and his partner Lizzie, run six Charolais females and followers alongside 50 pedigree Limousins. 
The herd was established in 1990 when they bought their first female, Goldies Dora and soon after, two others from the Goldies herd to include an in-calf cow whose bull calf sold for 5500gns at Carlisle in 1997. This gave them their first taste of success in the pedigree world and allowed them to invest in more females and a stockbull. 
“Back then, we ran a commercial herd of Limousin cross cows which were put to Charolais and Limousin bulls to produce progeny for the store ring, so I knew what the Charolais was capable of achieving. I just fancied something a bit different as our area is home to so many pedigree Limousin herds,” began Michael, who is a joiner to trade but now works at home full-time on the farm. 
Will, who works full-time for the National Trust but puts all of his spare time into the farm, said: “A good Charolais really is hard to beat. I don’t think there’s another breed that can perform better in terms of daily liveweight gains. There will always be a place in the market for an out and out terminal sire like the Charolais. 
He continued: “The great thing about the Charolais breed and the society is that we are very customer focused and look at what commercial breeders want. The society has made a massive stride in improving calving ease without compromising growth and I think that’s really helped push the demand for the Charolais.”

The Scottish Farmer:

Heading to Carlisle is the 16-month-old Cleaden Niagara        Ref:EC2604182795

Before long, the Cleasbys managed to build the herd up to 18 females, but sadly, when Foot-and-Mouth broke out in 2001, both the pedigree and commercial herds had to go. 
“The pedigree herd had just started to build momentum. The progeny was coming through and our stockbull at the time was just starting to make his mark. It was devastating, and it had such a big impact on us,” said Will. 
“We managed to build the commercial herd back up to 70 cows and the pedigree herd was re-established in 2004 when we went to the Charolais Christmas Cracker sale at Carlisle and bought Burnside Uptown and Maerdy Tasmania. 
“Uptown was a fantastic heifer and had a good presence about her. We flushed her and got three females and two bulls which sold at Carlisle. 
“One of those females, Cleaden Esther, bred our top priced bull to date – Cleaden Juggernaut – which stood junior champion and reserve male and sold for 8000gns at Carlisle in 2016 to a commercial producer in the Scottish Borders,” he said.
At the same sale the following year, the Cleasbys paid 1800gns for Keepers Victoria, a heifer which Dick Garner bought inside its mother (Givendale Sanicle) at the Givendale dispersal. Backed by some of the best breeding lines at the time, her sire was a son of Brampton Chopper – a bull which the Cleasbys always tried to get semen from for their original herd. 
Victoria bred five bulls to a top of 4000gns and they now have 19 embryos from her, as well as five from Burnside Uptown, which they hope to put into easy-calving, suitable recipients in the near future. 
Despite the commercial calves more than paying their way, the herd was dispersed in 2013 to release money for another project off the farm and to allow both Michael and Will to focus on expanding the Charolais herd and develop the Limousin herd. “Breeding pedigree cattle is like a drug – you get addicted to it,” commented Will, who’s partner Lizzie is expecting their first child later this year.
“If you’re going to keep cattle, you may as well try and make it as interesting as possible and do as good a job as you can. Both Dad and I like having the chance and the challenge to see how good we can be at it.”

The Scottish Farmer:

The other bull for Carlisle is the 18-month-old Cleaden Mrascle Ref:EC2604182797

During the earlier days, Cleaden bulls regularly sold between £3000 and £4000 so in a bid to introduce a bit more power and presence and to take the herd a step forward, the Cleasbys went in partnership with commercial breeders, Greystoke Castle Farms, to buy a share of the 9000gns Cardean Guardsman at Stirling in 2012, when he stood intermediate champion. 
Guardsman sired the 8000gns Cleaden Juggernaut and has bred just as well for Greystoke Castle Farms as last month, they sold 107 12-month-old bullocks and heifers at Wigton to average £1004 from a top of £1185.
“We saw a picture of Guardsman as a calf in the Charolais studbook and he just looked our type,” said Will. “We want to breed Charolais cattle which have the width from the withers to the hock, but we don’t want to get too extreme or too much hard, double muscle. It’s power, growth and length we’re looking for.”
Recently, Michael and Will have been using AI to introduce the next generation, as the most recent batch of heifers – which calve down just short of 30 months of age – were AI’d to Whitecliffe James and Wesley Equinox. They have also used sexed semen from Whitecliffe James, a bull which boasts exceptional maternal figures.

The Scottish Farmer:

A batch of in-calf heifers by Anside Foreman, Guardsman and Equinox Ref:EC2604182799

“We’ve started using AI, so we can introduce the sires that have the figures we want. We’re aiming to breed animals with lower birth weights and with a shorter gestation period, without sacrificing the breed’s growth and presence” said Will.
Backing up those statements, Michael said: “We aim to breed something with plenty length and want big Charolais females. The real attribute in a Charolais is the growth rate so we need to try and breed bulls which reflect that. Store buyers seem to want fleshy calves without being too extreme.”

The Scottish Farmer:

Cleaden heifers which calve down just short of 30 months of age

Although the boys may be keen to improve the figures within the herd, Michael did comment that there are two factors which should come into consideration beforehand. 
“Figures are just one tool in the box when it comes to breeding cattle. The health status in an animal should be the first thing you look at it before its presence and figures,” he said. 
All calves from the herd are offered a decent quality course mix once they reach three months of age and then the same mix is slowly increased up until weaning. 
After weaning, bull calves which are selected for sale are given high-quality silage, home-grown barley and a blend, then closer to sale day the forage quantity is reduced, and the concentrate is increased to give that 
all important flush. 
Bulls which aren’t selected for breeding are either sold through the store ring at 10 or 12 months of age or sold fat if the resources are available.
“We’re trying to be more clinical with better quality forage so we can save on costs and improve the functionality of bulls. We want to be selling bulls to customers who will come back and buy again. You need to look after feet and testicles, so they’re fit to go and do a good job,” said Will, who added that they closely monitor the condition of the cows, too, as they’re fed a basic silage mix throughout the winter.
In the meantime, the Cleasbys are gearing up for the society sale on Saturday (May 12) at Carlisle, where they will have two sons of Cardean Guardsman up for sale. The consignment includes, Cleaden Niagara, a 16-month-old bull which goes back to Burnside Uptown, and Cleaden Mrascle, an 18-month-old out of the Balthayock Selwyn-sired dam, Cleaden Bethany.

The Scottish Farmer:

Cleaden Lizzie, an Anside Foreman daughter, out of Maerdy Tasmania with her December-born heifer calf which is by Equinox