Building on easy calving and milky female lines is key for working farm manager Garry Patterson of the Delfur pedigree Simmental herd in Morayshire.
Based at Dundurcas Farm, near Rothes, Delfur Farms is owned by Scottish Conservative MSP Edward Mountain and has been home to a pedigree herd since 1972 after the first females were imported.
The unit spans 1,000 acres – 300 acres of which supports spring barley production for malting, 40 acres of winter barley for home use and the remainder grass for the 130-cow suckler herd.
Pedigree females imported in 1972
Garry Patterson, a well-known stockman from Keith, came to Delfur in May 2022 and has already enjoyed huge success with the pedigree Simmentals in the show and sale rings across the country.
His aim is to increase the high health herd in size and have all females pedigree registered with the society.
He said: “All the females at Delfur are pure and it’s generally a closed herd, with only the odd female purchased to introduce new bloodlines.
“Most of the herd is bred on the back of previous sires such as Auchorachan ACDC and Clonagh Tiger Gallant and we are currently flushing some of the older cows to keep these good lines.
“Simmentals have fantastic maternal traits and are generally very easy to work. Temperament is very important, especially when working with cattle on your own.
“The females are very milky and the breed can be used successfully as a terminal sire across any type of herd.”
‘Simmentals have fantastic maternal traits and are very easy to work with’ says Garry Patterson
Garry also carries out the AI work himself and has been AI’ing most of the heifers to Banwy Bonzo, with noted sires such as Saltire Impressive being used in the flushing programme.
Stock bulls to make a stamp on the herd include the 10,000gns Innerwick Ivor and the 10,000gns Woodhall Instict, both of which are breeding decent females for the herd.
Woodhall Instict is also a polled bull – a genetic Garry hopes to push forward at Delfur.
The more recent stock bull to join the herd is the 28,000gns Islavale Magnum, bought from the Stronachs at Stirling Bull Sales in October 2022.
Garry said Magnum stood out from the minute he saw him and his breeding and performance figures made him the ”full package” to help take the herd to the next step.
His first crop of calves are now hitting the ground and look very promising.
28,000gns Islavale Magnum calves hitting the ground
Another purchase from Islavale, this time on the female front, was Islavale Topaz 18, bought for 5,000gns at the Next Generation show and sale in Carlisle in 2022.
On the other side of the coin, the Delfur herd has returned to the headlines, achieving several five-figure prices at bull sales and winning top tickets at local and national shows.
In October 2022, Delfur Maverick, a son of Woodhall Instict, sold for 16,000gns to two pedigree herds, while two other Instinct sons sold at Stirling in May 2023 reached 10,500gns and 9,000gns.
The dearest was Delfur MacBeth, while Delfur Marvel at 9,000gns, stood reserve champion in the pre-sale show.
With showing being a shop window for most pedigree breeders, the Delfur herd was back out in the summer show circuit last year and also travelled to Borderway Agri Expo, Stars of the Future and LiveScot.
Delfur bulls to 16,000gns top in October 2022
The show team featured Delfur Nifty, a November 2022-born heifer by Ballymoney Larry 20, which stood unbeaten throughout the summer.
She then went on to win the championship at Agri Expo, reserve senior female at Stars of the Future and overall inter-breed champion at LiveScot.
While the focus is on the pedigree side at Delfur, Garry did point out how important the commercial market is, with many of the bulls sold to commercial herds, including unregistered bulls being sold privately off farm.
He also hopes to build on the recipient market and sell females from the high health herd.
In the meantime, preparations are well underway for next week’s Stirling Bull Sales, where Delfur will have forward a team of six bulls.
“Most of this year’s February team are senior bulls as hopefully we will hit the market with stronger bulls which are ready to go and work for producers,” said Garry.
Semen tested with great results
“Preparations will then be focused on the May sale at Stirling where we will have another line-up forward.”
All bulls forward for Stirling are semen tested with great results. This is something the Delfur team are very particular about.
