CHAROLAIS BOOM

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30811, 24 July 1965, Page 8

CHAROLAIS BOOM

TN September 220 Charolais r calves will be put into quarantine at Brest before crossing the channel to go to British farms, reports the “Economist” from Paris. “It will be one of the most expensive consignments of young cattle ever to have crossed the sea—3s 4d per lb on average.” The price of these cattle for breeding has been shooting up for some years under the influence of mounting demand from all over the world, states the report. More and more breeders now believe that the Charolais, whose birthplace is the Nevers region of France, is the best meat breed in the world. In 1950 French farmers sold only 10 Charolais bulls for breeding abroad. In 1959 104 were exported, in 1962 670, in 1964 1864 and this year the figure will probably be more than 2000. Sans-Souci, the prize winning bull of the 1964 Paris Concours Agricole,

was bought for about £BOOO by an Argentine breeder. Ten years ago it was news in France if a bull was sold for £7OO. A few days ago some Canadian buyers paid between £450 and £llOO for young heifer calves three or four months old and between £7OO and £37000 for bull calves of the same age. British breeders also buy very young animals. The United Kingdom health regulations ban the import of ail animals vaccinated against foot and mouth disease for fear that vaccination will bring undesirable viruses into Britain, and all French cattle automatically undergo vaccination at the age of six months. The French Charolais breeders make no excuse for the high prices they are now charging in the face of heavy demand from four continents —and from other French farmers, says the “Economist.” They are aware, too, of the profits to be earned by the spread of artificial insemination by which a bull can father between 10,000 and 30,000 calves during his lifetime. The boom of these last few years has made the fortune of a small number of breeders—about 3800 out of the 1.5 m cattle breeders in France. Of these privileged few, 2024 concentrated in Nievre and Saone-et-Loire have set up a powerful export office which looks after the selection of animals for export and sales promotion abroad. The office has plenty of money to use as breeders pay a voluntary contribution of 10 per cent of their export earnings to finance the facilities it offers, which includes the shipping of animals for export.