Breeding quality livestock in Argyllshire

The Creran Limousin herd has been built up with purchases from well-known Stirling-based herds and females from France

Based at Home Farm, Barcaldine, near Oban – a 150-acre unit which has been in the family since 1923 – they also own Creran Marine, a business established in 1989 which offers full marine services to boat owners including boatyard, moorings, storage, maintenance and repairs. Each year, the business stores up to 240 boats and now includes accommodation for visitors with two chalets and a caravan park on site. 
“The livestock enterprise is a bit of a hobby here, but it’s got to wash its face too,” said Ewen snr, who also has two daughters – Victoria who works as a human resources consultant in Glasgow and Nichola who runs her own dog grooming business in Oban. “During the 1990s, we were running a 50-cow suckler herd and a flock of ewes over 100 acres of grassland and 50 acres of woodland. We were never making a living from it and knew we either had to move away or diversify.
“In the 1990s, diversification was the buzz word in this area – the West Coast is a very resilient area and we’ve got to make the most of what we have, with poorer ground and wetter, bleaker climates. It was in the early 2000s that we decided to sell 40 of the suckler cows and then reduced the sheep numbers gradually as the boat yard soon became a full-time job,” he added. 

Lodge Iccolo with her one-week-old calf                                                                     Ref:RH061118032  

As years have gone on, the suckler cow herd has remained at a similar number as both Ewen snr and jnr work at the boat yard full-time, along with another full-time member of staff. Continuous breeding of quality females is made easier with the use of AI (which Ewen snr does himself) and careful selection when it comes to choosing home-bred replacements. 
“Limousin cross calves suit the poorer performing ground here and we can get the flesh on them quickly,” commented Ewen snr. “We previously used the Charolais but found they didn’t suit the ground here. Limousin calves are always up that bit sooner and sooking their mothers.”
Ewen jnr, who is also a big believer of the Limousin breed, added: “This part of the world doesn’t have the quality of land to hold the Charolais, so we need low maintenance, milky cows that can get on with the calving themselves when running another full-time business away from the farm. We breed what the market dictates – growthy, shapely calves that are naturally fleshing will always sell well. 
“We’re a High Health Status herd so have been very restrictive at buying in females but luckily, we have been able to breed milky replacement heifers which suit our system here.”
Although AI is very much the way to go when running small commercial and pedigree herds, for ease of management and the fact that they didn’t have the time to watch out for repeats, the MacGillivrays bought a British Blue bull from the Patersons, at Upper Auchenlay, Dunblane. He bred well for the herd and sired a dam which went on to breed the boys’ current show calf – The Captain.
It’s easy calving bulls with good milk figures which the MacGillivrays select on for ease management, with Powerful Irish, Lodge Hamlet and Rossignol having made their stamp on the herd. 

Nounou is a 2017-born heifer imported from France and seems to be be acclimatising well                                                                              Ref:RH061118043   

Cows are outwintered all year round and only come inside for a week in the spring during calving. They thrive on good quality home-grown silage and cake is introduced just before calving time. Every December, the boys sell their batch of May-born suckled calves at Oban, which in the past, have sold to a top of £1700 and usually average over the £1000 bracket. 
“We wouldn’t entirely go down the route of breeding show calves – you’d get a lot of caesareans and the job would become very expensive,” commented Ewen snr. “In fact, this year was our first caesar in 27 years. The odd show calf is just a bonus.”
Having said that, the MacGillivrays have won several championships at local shows, including at Appin, Lorn, Mid Argyll and Dalmally, which they’ve found have been ‘good feeders’ before attending bigger shows. 
They’ve also sold calves in the past to the late Ewan MacPherson, which went on to be shown at the Royal Smithfield Show. This year, the two Ewens ventured to Borderway Agri-Expo at Carlisle and scooped a second prize win with their March-born Limousin cross bullock, The Captain. He is by Lodge Hamlet, out of the Auchenlay-sired British Blue dam which is bred from a home-bred cow.
It’s not just the commercial herd that has given the MacGillivrays success over the years, as the first two bull calves from their pedigree Creran Limousin herd sold for 10,000gns and 7200gns, respectively. 
The first pedigree Limousin introduced to the farm was Graham’s Goldenfly, a female bought privately as a yearling from Robert Graham in 2013. She stood second in her class at the Highland Show for the two Ewens and her first daughter, Creran Ifly, bred the 7200gns Creran Mastercard sold at Carlisle in October, 2017. Sired by Rossignol, he also stood third in his class at the Highland. 
The dam of the 10,000gns Creran Mourinho sold at Stirling in February, this year, was by Powerful Irish, out of Lodge Iccolo – a dam bought privately as a weaned calf from Ian and Wendy Callion. 
Continuous improvements to the herd have been made with purchases from France, when the family ventured to the country for Ewen snr’s 60th birthday. There, they bought a cow with a calf at foot, an in-calf heifer and a slightly older breeding cow.  
“We find that Limousin cattle bred in the UK are narrowed down to just a few bloodlines, so we wanted to go to France for something new,” said Ewen jnr, who thanked well-known stockman, Dennis Gall, for the help and knowledge he has given him and his dad over the years. “They focus more on females over there and breed cows which are easy calving.” 
Backing up those statements, Ewen snr said: “The French cows came from a farm which was situated 1400ft above sea level, so we knew they’d cope well on our ground. It would be hard to expect cattle which have come from lowland and light ground to do well on the ground here.”
It’s not just the boat yard and cattle enterprise which keeps the family busy, as they also run a flock of 25 pedigree Texels. Each year, they produce between 15 to 20 tup lambs for the commercial market at Oban and just like the Limousin, they believe Texels are the ideal breed for their farm. 
“We had pure Suffolks at one time, but they were a bit like the Charolais – they took up more time,” explained Ewen snr. 
“Gradually, we phased out of the Suffolk breed and went down the Texel route, with some of the first females bought from the Campbell family’s Cowal flock at Lochgoilhead. We aim to breed commercial tups which are fleshy with good tight skins,” he added. 

The Captain is a Limousin cross bullock by Lodge Hamlet which will front the MacGillivrays’ first venture with cattle to LiveScot after winning a string of summer shows                                                                                          Ref:RH061118029 

In the meantime, the team at Barcaldine are gearing up for their first time exhibiting at next week’s LiveScot event at Lanark. And, all being well, The Captain will be sold after the show – but if only if the price is right...