COWS AND CALVES THRIVE IN HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

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Article - British Limousin Society

Brigadier Christopher Dunphie admits that he almost had a heart attack in Perth auction mart in November, while selling his Limousin cross cattle.

Spring born Limousin crosses grazing with their dams at Wester Cloquhat a week before sale at Perth in the first week of November.
Christopher Dunphie left the Army in 1988 and he and his wife Sonia took up full time farming in spring 1989; on the 670 acre Cloquhat Farm, a few miles north of Blairgowrie on the road to the Glenshee ski slopes in Perthshire. His uncle had farmed at Cloquhat since 1946. The farm now supports just under 100, mainly Limousin cross cows, mated to two Limousin bulls.

A 320 ewe closed flock (220 Scottish Blackface, 100 Scotch Mules), are mated to Scottish Blackface and Bluefaced Leicester tups. Two Suffolks are used for prime lamb production, with some lambing early to catch the Easter trade.

Thanks to the Foot and Mouth chaos inflicted on the British livestock industry, Christopher Dunphie, like all suckled calf producers facing the Year 2001 autumn sales, was apprehensive as to how the 66 spring-born Limousin crosses, (32 stots, 34 heifers) entered at Perth for November 5th and 8th, would fare. Apprehension turned to jubilation on both days!

The stots were sold on the 5th, the day a Dunphie heart attack was considered imminent - as a pair (one red, one black), weighing 270 kg, topped the sale at £2.00 per kg (£540 per head). The 32 spring-born stots averaged £530.31 per head. With an average weight of 305.5 kg, they returned an average of £1.74 per kg.

Three days later the Cloquhat Limousin cross heifer calves took their turn in the ring. Sale topping lightning struck twice as a 275 kg Cloquhat heifer topped the sale at £415.00 - £1.50.9 per kg (£1.51 to thee and me).

The 34 heifers averaged £335.29. Their average weight was 283.74 kgs and they averaged £1.18 per kg.

Colquhat farms team:
Brigadier Christopher Dunphie, Neil Drummond and Mrs Sonia Dunphie.
So just how does a retired Army officer who only took up full-time farming less than a dozen years ago, bring home-bred sale-topping cattle to Perth mart, in the heartland of an area where livestock farmers have generations of cattle breeding experience in their ancestry?

Christopher Dunphie gives the credit to Neil Drummond, grieve/stockman at Cloquhat since autumn 1992. "When Neil arrived I was working with the cattle my uncle had farmed - a real mixture of cows, put to the Charolais bull", explained Christopher Dunphie.

Neil Drummond, whose grandfather was born at Cloquhat, brought with him many years worth of varied cattle experience, including a large pedigree Charolais herd. His immediate previous job however had been on a Fife farm where the 250 commercial cows had been romanced by six Limousin bulls.

Neil Drummond's arrival at Cloquhat presented an opportunity to assess the cattle enterprise. "It was obvious that Neil wanted Limousins", said Christopher Dunphie, "and I realised that if your life has been in something quite different and you don't know the back end of a cow from the front end of a sheep, you had better listen to somebody who does know what they are talking about".

Neil had his way - Limousins replaced the Charolais bulls as they ended their working lives. Neil's arguments were strengthened by Christopher Dunphie's experience of Limousin cross calves, bought in either at foot, or inside replacement breeding females. "When we sold these Limousin cross cattle, it was clear from the response that they were what the market wanted", said Christopher Dunphie.

Neil is responsible for the day to day management of the cattle, and while he was aware of the market demand for Limousin crosses, he was also influenced by the management aspects of Limousins. "Their ease of calving not only means more live calves, but the cows last a lot longer", explained Neil. "Also "the get up and go" of the Limousin calves is a big help at calving time".

The first Limousin bull to tread the slopes of Cloquhat which rise to a high point of just under 1,100 feet, was Sundale Jack, a third prize winner at Perth, October 1995. His price tag was 5,000 gns. The two current bulls are Normande Lonestar, purchased at Perth, February 1997, costing 5,800 gns and Homebyres Omega, bought for 4,200 gns at Perth, February 2000.

Having got his way with the sires, Neil's next job was to convince Christopher Dunphie that it really was his own idea to increase the number of Limousin cross females in the breeding herd. "It was obvious from the commercial sales that the real potential of the Limousin is realised with at least three quarter Limousin, which is when the beefing quality of the breed really starts to kick in", explained Neil.

The passports which accompanied bought in Limousin cross replacement females revealed that the majority originated from Cumbria

So instead of buying Cumbrian-bred Limousin cross heifers in Perthshire, Christopher Dunphie and Neil Drummond headed for Harrison and Hetherington's auction ring in Carlisle, Cumbria, where they understandably found a bigger and better selection of first and second crosses.Three quarters of the Cloquhat herd are spring calving and are out-wintered, running in and out at calving. "We can get some pretty fierce winters here", explained Christopher Dunphie, "and we needed to be sure that the Limousin cross females would live and thrive outside before we committed ourselves totally to Limousin cross cows".

Results of these hardiness trials?
Over recent years all female replacements have been Limousin crosses, including home-bred Limousin cross heifers, with the oldest home-bred cows being second calvers. "This year we retained all the black heifer calves born last autumn. They are at least three quarter Limousin", explained Christopher Dunphie.

In a distinguished Army career as an Infantry soldier, spanning decades, Brigadier Christopher Dunphie saw "operational service" in many parts of the world, including the Mau Mau emergency in Kenya, the Malayan jungle and as a United Nations Peace Keeper in Cyprus. Closer to home he had four tours in Northern Ireland, including being on the streets of Belfast during the difficulties of the early 1970's. "These were probably the most exciting times", said Christopher Dunphie. "In 1971 and 72 I was a major commanding 120 soldiers. My son Charles celebrated his first and second birthdays those years and now he has recently returned from being a company commander himself on the streets of Belfast".

In 1972 Christopher Dunphie was awarded the Military Cross for services in Belfast.
"Exciting" was not the word Christopher Dunphie used when he recalled his work as Chief of Staff for the Military during the Falklands campaign of 1982. "At one stage during this campaign I crawled round the floor of Chequers with Margaret Thatcher, Dennis wasn't there!. We had spread a large map of the Falklands out on the floor to ensure the Prime Minister was fully aware of what was happening".
Retired from the Army he may be, but Christopher Dunphie still uses some of his military skills with his farming, particularly when it comes to bull buying. A strategy for identifying the targets is prepared well beforehand, with Christopher Dunphie and Neil Drummond combining forces to become a bull-buying dynamic duo.

"The basic plan is for me to study the paperwork, while Neil concentrates on the back ends!", said Christopher Dunphie. "I get the Perth catalogue early and go through it seeking out bulls with good growth rates and high E.B.V.s. The Sunday night before the show Neil nips in and has a good walk round the bulls". "I try to look for a good bull among a good string of bulls", explained Neil.

"We then get into the mart on the Monday morning in plenty of time for the show, when thanks to having done our homework we can hit the ground running", said Christopher Dunphie. "Having watched the bulls during the show we then sit down and sort out a short list for the sale the following day. From then on everything is in the lap of the Gods and the other bidders!".

10 red Limousin cross steer calves born between March 10 and April 15, 2001 which were sold at Perth on November 5th 2001. They weighed 301kg and made £530 (£1.76 per kg)
The two bulls currently on siring duty at Cloquhat and the sires of the calves sold in November, both have Beef Values in the top one per cent of the Limousin breed - Homebyres Omega +31 and Normande Lonestar +35. The sale prices of the progeny of these two bulls speak for themselves. "They really have done us proud as breeding animals", said Christopher Dunphie. "Both of them are also really good pals - they are quiet and very easy to handle, and always ready for a friendly chat".

Preparation, thought and effort obviously goes into the purchase of the Cloquhat bulls. It is no surprise to learn that the same approach is applied to their progeny as they near sale.

Christopher Dunphie maintains that the breeding of quality stock is only part of the story of any successful livestock enterprise; "the cattle prosper best if properly and quietly handled, and we are very aware just how lucky we are to have Neil in charge of our stock here at Cloquhat", he said.

A regular feature in the local Young Farmers year is a competition involving the buying of a commercial beast in the autumn and then auctioning it in the spring, with prizes for profit and presentation. Foot and Mouth wrecked the 2001 competition, but normally, Neil Drummond halter breaks some of the showier Cloquhat calves to increase their appeal to the eager Young Farmers (usually funded by fathers determined their sprog will win the competition) at the autumn auction.

"You always know when it is Day One of halter-breaking inside the shed", explained Sonia Dunphie. "The air is blue as Neil tells the less co-operative ones exactly what he thinks of them!. But by Day Three they always seem to be relaxed and totally amenable".

A high paying Young Farmer is a good buyer to have, but as every cattle producer knows, the real bread and butter are buyers who return year after year.

One of the regular Cloquhat calf buyers is W.S. Young of Milnathort, Kinross, who has bought heifers from Christopher Dunphie for the last five years, including nine in November.

"I would have liked to have bought more, but they were too expensive", said Mr. Young. "I really like the cattle, they are quiet and placid and settle straight away when they arrive, which helps them go on and thrive".

Mr. Young finishes the heifers off grass the following summer, taking them to a top weight of around 530 kgs. They are sold through the Caledonian Marts auction at Stirling, with butchers Scott Brothers of Dundee, buyers of the Year 2000 Smithfield champion Danny Boy, regular buyers.

Christopher Dunphie led a fulfilling life serving his country before "retiring" to farming. So how has he adjusted from Mau Mau to Cow Cow? "I really enjoy farming", he said, "but I must point out that it is a great deal more difficult to balance the books in farming than in the Army".

Spring born Limousin cross calves
Like most farmers new to the industry, Christopher Dunphie brings his own approach to his new way of life. In early October, with the autumn calf sales in mind, he wrote to all buyers who had bought Cloquhat calves in the last five years, setting out his stall for the autumn sales and inviting would-be purchasers to view the cattle on the farm (all were from the Provisionally Free Area). The letter also managed to include a sideways swipe at the Government's double standards on the public's right of access!

Amongst the positive Cloquhat cattle points promoted was "all have electronic ear tags". Long before the British Cattle Movement Service was established, Christopher Dunphie had formed the opinion that to re-build confidence in the British beef industry, which had been battered by B.S.E., there needed to be totally reliable traceability at all stages between breeder and butcher, with accurate computerised records kept at a central administration location. He felt that electronic tagging was a vital component to the success of such a project.

All the Cloquhat cattle have been electronically tagged for the last few years and Christopher Dunphie looks forward to the day when the entire British cattle industry uses a uniform electronic tagging system which would not only make record keeping more efficient, but would also be labour saving and safer.

Meanwhile Christopher Dunphie, ably assisted by his wife Sonia and stockman Neil Drummond, will continue to enjoy breeding excellent quality beef cattle amongst the majestic scenery of north Perthshire. The cattle have changed significantly since he took over in 1989; with Limousin heading towards total domination in both sires and dams.

"You have to be very brave to decide to produce what you want to. Your first step should be to confirm what the market wants and then try to produce that product," said Christopher Dunphie.

We're extremely fortunate - we want to produce Limousin cattle and it's obvious that these are the cattle the market wants!".