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C A S E S T U D Y
SPRING 2011 ISSUE
LIVESTOCK MATTERS
10
S UCK L E R COW HE RD
A recent new enterprise is a herd of 25
South Devon suckler cows. John is to supply
quality meat for local high class restaurants
under the brand Casterbridge Beef.
John explains: ‘The South Devon is an
under-rated breed that performs well
off-grass and is hardy; so we can outwinter
the cows. We also chose it for the
temperament and our family's past
experience of the breed.’
The cows all came from one source
and were of a known high health status.
However, due to the many other animals
on the farm, all have been vaccinated for
BVD and leptospirosis and will be tested
on a 12 month basis.
An Aberdeen Angus bull was purchased,
selected for calving ease. ‘We went to a
closed high health status herd - accredited
free of the four main infectious diseases,’
says John. ‘This was just as well as, due
to TB test results we had a 60-day delay
before we could bring the bull onto the
farm. With a target calving date of 1 April,
there was no time for a quarantine period!!
We just turned the bull straight out with the
cows as soon as he arrived.’
HE I F E R F I N I S H I NG
Through the year store heifers and steers
are purchased from Frome market, and
finished on a simple ration of grass and
maize silage. With no history of their
worming status, they are drenched on
arrival, and in the autumn also receive
a flukicide.
Each of the three enterprises poses
different challenges to maintaining good
animal health and performance. Mark
and John have tailored their attentions
to each.
The bull beef enterprise has been the
main focus, and is now a fine-tuned
system with which both John and Mark
are pleased.
John spent £10,000 to convert the dairy
sheds to the existing bull beef facilities
which include motorway crash barriers
around each pen. Improving ventilation
was the only other change needed after
a smoke test using a wheelbarrow of lit
straw. So air flow has been improved by
raising part of the roof line and removing
the tops of the sides of the walls.
Mark adds: ‘John’s success with all his
enterprises can be put down to good
husbandry and sensitive management,
by him and his staff. It also demonstrates
that you don't always need new
buildings for new ventures.’
Bull beef enterprise at Maiden Castle Farm