THE Lowesmoor herd, owned by Mike Clark of Cherington, near Gloucester, has been recognised by EBLEX as the Most Improved Herd of Hereford cattle in England for 2014.

The award is presented by the EBLEX Beef Better Returns Programme (BRP) to the performance-recorded herd that shows the greatest genetic gain for commercial characteristics over a 12-month period.

There is a separate award for each of 10 UK breeds.

The farm which is home to the Lowesmoor Hereford herd was purchased by his parents in 1959, is now run in partnership with Mike managing the cattle enterprise and the arable land run by his brother Adrian.

Situated in the Cotswolds, the farm comprises of 980 acres of arable land with crops including wheat, oilseed rape, barley, oats and peas grown on an annual basis.

There are 70 acres of permanent grassland, with 30 acres of grass leys on two or three year rotation.

Additional grazing is rented when required.

The pedigree herd was established in 1960, with horned females sourced from top herds in the country.

They imported a polled bull from Australia and over the years the Lowesmoor herd built numbers up, to now number 70 breeding females.

Over the years Mike has experienced other breeds, but has always liked the Hereford breed, which has been the backbone of their herd.

At one time they ran a very commercial herd, but more recently he is chasing the pedigree market.

“All native breeds are good grass convertors. The Herefords are docile animals and therefore easy to handle,” Mike said.

“Over time, the Hereford carcase has developed to become what today’s modern butcher is seeking, furthermore, supermarkets recognise Herefords as a premium brand.”

Performance recording Mike has always recorded his livestock in order to identify better animals.

He believes assessment by eye is a critical factor, but wants individual breeding values to support what he sees standing in front of him.

“It is important to keep a keen focus on the Herefords natural ability to finish calves and not to jeopardise this by focusing only on muscling traits,” he said.

Regular weighing helps identify the better animals and breeding values expose the animal’s true performance at 200 days, drawing attention to the best performers and identifying problems in the herd.

Locomotion and milky cows, or bulls with a good pair of testicles, are all very important traits, and are all traceable back to the female.

Annual production A few females are selected for Artificial Insemination in April, ahead of bulls going out toward the end of the month.

The majority calve over eight weeks, with later-born calves being marketed differently.

They winter outside and once calved are brought in to live in a corralled area.

It is a healthy system, where cows have access to silage and calves are offered creep.

Bulls are weaned in November and as long as conditions allow will remain outdoors.

Those being finished are housed in their final two months.

Up to a dozen Lowesmoor bull calves are kept each year to be sold for breeding either privately or through society sales and by six months of age all surplus bulls are castrated.

Mike prefers to use homebred stock bulls for the herd, allowing a good expectation of an animal’s breeding potential within the herd.

He has a keen focus on a bull’s individual trait EBVs, combined with his overall breed type, conformation and locomotion.

Female calves are left on their mothers, with heifer replacement selections made when the mothers are going back to the bull.

For his Lowesmoor females he likes a bit of stretch, not too big but with plenty of volume to carry a decent calf.

His cows do well without getting too fat.

When looking at raw weights, he focuses on the 200-day weight as an indication of milk provided by the dam and the 400-day weight to determine the calves’ ability to continue to grow.

Analysing the weights to produce 200-Day Milk, 200-Day Weight and 400-Day Weight EBVs determines if the animals are genetically any good.

Alongside the pedigree herd, Mike buys and fattens 100 beef animals a year to finish to contract.

All surplus from the Hereford herd goes into the same scheme.

He sells some box scheme Herefordshire beef directly to local consumers and supplies some local pubs and restaurants.

Recent success linked to performance “Lowesmoor Jockey had the highest muscle area reading ever measured in the Hereford breed when using the ultrasound scanner,” Mike said.

“At 18 months of age he had a 160mm2 rib eye muscle area, following in the footsteps of his homebred sire, Lowesmoor 1 Gauloise, who was also well-muscled.” Jockey was champion at the Hereford Society Spring Sale this year, and was sold as a 21-month-old bull, topping the sale at 6000gns.

Another bull was sold to France later the same month, giving Mike the opportunity to export his bloodlines.

“These performance figures are up to continental breed standard and is what the commercial market demands,” Mike said.

“If you buy in new animals with good EBVs you will undoubtedly push the herd’s base performance figures up too.”

The most likely reason for winning the award this year was due to the three stock bulls he used last year, all of which were in the top five per cent for the breed.

One was homebred, while the other two were purchased.

Customers for Lowesmoor herd Lowesmoor bulls are sold commercially to suckler herds or pedigree herds, with the occasional local dairy herd, calves from which are frequently topping the market.

Marketing of the Lowesmoor herd relies on word of mouth, with many repeat customers and new interest always welcomed.

Mike likes showing and feels it is important to support the breed and keep pushing your product through presence in the ring.

“This way people know what your breeding is about and where they can find you. I have sold many animals as a result of showing!” he concluded.