CHAROLAIS COMES INTO ITS OWN

Press, 25 February 1977, Page 14

CHAROLAIS COMES INTO ITS OWN

According to a former president and chairman of the British Charolais Cattle Society, Mr R. (Bobby) Robinson, of Alnwick, Northemberland, who is at present visiting New Zealand, the Charolais breed has really made progress in Britain since beef producers have started to use it.

Initially in 1961 he said that bulls of the breed had been brought into Britain to improve beef production from dairy herds and mated with Friesians in the south west, which were not good calvers, he said that there had been calving problems and the beef produced had not been acceptable to the public or butchers.

But the picture has changed since beef people became interested in the breed in the late 19605. Indicative of the interest of commercial beef producers in the breed, he said that some 140 bulls had been sold at two official sales in October for an average of £2600 sterling (8NZ4727) and there would not have been 10 stud bulls among them. And bulls for commercial purposes have been selling for more than £5OOO (SNZ9O9O). A sale at 5100 guineas sterling was made by no less eminent breeders than Messrs R. M. Adams and Sons, of Newhouse, Glamis, of Angus fame, and that bull was sold for commercial purposes. Indeed Mr Robinson said that the extent of the popularity of the breed was limited to some extent by the number of bulls that were available.

In his own part of the country in the border area between England and Scotland Mr Robinson has an impressive story of the great growth in the popularity of the breed.

He farms three blocks of country' covering about 1400 hectares about 16 to 19 kilometres apart. Apart from growing about 68 hectares of barley and some swedes on the arable country and making some 3000 tonnes of silage and 30,000 bales of hay, he runs about 600 commercial cows and has a small Charolais stud with about 24 cows calving at the present stage and 2200 Scottish Blackface ewes.

Mr Robinson buys his commercial cows from Ireland as two-year,old heifers. They are Angus cross with some Shorthorn in them. In New Zealand currency he says that they cost $450 to $5OO each.

All his females are mated to full French Charolais bulls. The heifers are inseminated from an easy calving bull with good fleshing qualities, and the rest of the females are served naturally.

All of the cattle are inside for five months of the year and at this stage,the calves are fed nearly a kilogram or 21b a day of a mixture of protein, minerals and barley, as well as getting their mothers’ milk. From the time they go outside the heifer calves get no extra feed apart from what they graze and their mothers’ milk, but for the last two months before sale the steer calves - are given a ration similar to that fed inside.

All of the calves are weaned at the time of sale at 11 months when the

steer calves average about 364 kg or 8001 b and the heifer calves 318 kg or 7001 b liveweight.

Mr Robinson sells nearly 500 and they go to the market at Reston, about 80 kilometres away.

When he started to sell there in 1967 he said that there would be hardly any Charolais cross calves in the border country. At the most recent sale he said that there were more Charolais cross calves than calves by Angus and Hereford sires combined. At the most recent sale 2262 Charolais cross calves averaged £227 ($413) and the 2200 crosses by other breeds averaged £lB7 ($340).

Now Mr Robinson said that in the border country there would be “10,000 plus” Charolais cross calves. In a feedlot near Reston where Hereford calves had always been used, Mr Robinson said that after he sold them 60 heifer calves four years ago, they bought 300 at the sale in the following year, then 750 and now they had 1000 Charolais cross. They ran all heifers and supplied a local butcher with the Charolais cross calves which “shot away” to be marketed at 14 months at 5501 b dressed weight. Mr Robinson said that a premium was being paid for Charolais type beef at the abattoir. The Charolais cross calves were putting on about 0.5 kg or 1 lb a day more than Angus or Hereford cross calves, and the heifer calves were also a great attraction for beef as compared with Angus and Hereford heifer calves with vendors receiving the same price for them as steer calves. They kept on growing and did not get too fat. As far as calving difficulty was concerned, he said he had recently calved 50 heifers and had only one dead calf and two pairs of twins among the calves dropped. On hearing that he was receiving about £230 ($418) for his suckler calves, Mr Robinson said that some of his New Zealand friends had expressed great envy at these sort of prices, but

his conclusion is that livestock farmers in the two I countries are really doing | about the same.

If British farmers had ■ New Zealand's climate and! their prices he said that | they would certainly be in I a very favourable position ! indeed and very conceited, but if New Zealand farm-1 ers had British prices in their climate they would' be even worse.

Under their circum-i stances he said that they had a staff of 20 to 25 —I they seemed to need a stockman and two tractor men for every 100 cows and 500 ewes, and for five months a year stock were inside.

Mr Robinson sells his Border Leicester Blackface cross lambs at about 20kg (43 or 441 b) carcase| weight in the local market and in January lambs estimated to kll out at 4141 b brought $42 (£23). He is on the council of the British Charolais Cattle Society having been a member for seven years and has served two years as chairman and also a term as president. An old Rugby player and president of his local club and the county, he has met All Blacks when they visited Britain and is renewing acquaintances on his I second visit to this coun- i trv.