Simmentals tick all the boxes at Brodieshill
For Robert Manson, the Simmental breed offers everything a commercial producer could ask for—maternal strength, good temperament, efficient growth, and the kind of adaptability required on the farm’s varied land.
Brodieshill Farm is located near Forres, one of the largest towns in the Moray region. Renowned for its rich history, the town is close to Elgin, and as you approach the farm, the stunning coastal landscapes take your breath away. The farm boasts spectacular views out across the Moray Firth, however, much of the land is reclaimed hill ground, meaning it has been converted from a non-arable state into productive farmland, so involves careful management to avoid long-term problems, such as increased flooding risks.
Robert Manson from Brodieshill farm (image: Rob Haining)
But as you cast your eye around the stock of robust, healthy, 160 good-looking suckler cows and a flock of 600 sheep, you can see that Robert and his father Colin make the very best of what they’ve got.
Brodieshill has been in the Manson family since 1947, with Robert now the third generation to farm it. He and his father, Colin, run the enterprise in partnership with Robert’s wife, Nicola, and his mother, Irene. Their two children, Mhairi (14) and Andrew (11), take a keen interest—when not playing for their local ice hockey team. In fact, during the visit, Nicola was busy packing for an upcoming tournament in Sweden.
Nicola has also diversified the farm’s offering by opening a natural play area. It’s become a hub for local families, offering sessions where children explore the outdoors, interact with animals, and learn about the farming seasons—blending education with the rural experience.
Spring barley—400 acres of it—is grown for malting, with sub-standard grain used in cattle feed. Feed is further supplemented with a TMR mix from Harbro, guided by nutritionist Ian Anderson. The sheep flock is fed East Coast Viners pellets, with most lambs fattened on grass and finished on-farm.
The farm supports a 160-cow Simmental-based suckler herd, split into spring and autumn calving blocks. There are also 600 breeding ewes, with early lambing Suffolk Mules and later lambing Highland, Scotch Mule, Cheviot Mule, and Texel crosses.
Lambing is carried out inside a polytunnel, where they will stay for 24 hours before being taken outside. The first lambs are away by the end of May, when they are sold directly to slaughter through Woodhead Bros at Turriff for Dunbia. Between 70 and 100 lambs are kept for breeding.
There is 160 cow Simmental based suckler herd at Brodieshill (image: Rob Haining)
Introducing the Simmental as a dual-purpose sire, the Manson family from Morayshire has been able to produce home-bred, medium-sized replacements which can sustain the type of ground on their unit. Robert says: “Much of the ground was reclaimed, back in the late 70s and 80s, so we need to be aware of environmental management and damage, so I’m looking at a mature cow that weighs no more than 800kgs or 900kgs tops. It’s not land that can sustain big, heavy, one-tonne-plus cows. Obviously, that’s because of the amount of grass; it’s just the way the farm is, it’s pretty tough. The Simmental is capable of thriving on this type of ground.”
Colin and Robert have built a good reputation for selling high-health commercial bulling heifers and store cattle through the live ring, as well as finished cattle directly to slaughter through ABP at Perth. Robert says that any cast cows typically go through Thainstone. He says that while he won’t keep anything that’s too old, if they’re fit and productive, and are still deemed efficient, he’s happy.
Originally, Charolais bulls were used over Simmental-cross cows, producing fast-finishing bull beef and finished heifers. But with hard calvings and no home-bred replacements, the system had its drawbacks. Eighteen years ago, the first Simmental-cross heifers were bought from Bill and Garry Patterson at Upper Forgie—and the shift began.
“We’ve never looked back,” Robert says. “Simmentals are docile and easy to work with. We needed a big-framed female to handle Charolais calves, but now we’re focused more on breeding replacements—so Simmental bulls are used across the board.”
The cows which are split calving from the end of February onwards and then from the end of July (image: Rob Haining)
The herd has been influenced by Burghbridge Ricardo, Blackford Island Warrior, which was bought for 11,000gns, and more recently three Islavale bulls. Their genetics have delivered a well-balanced, productive herd. The current stock sires include a Corskie and a Blackford bull, both of which are bringing extra flesh and frame to the herd. Bulls are sourced locally or through United Auctions at Stirling
The suckler herd calves in two distinct periods: from the end of February to the end of April and again from the end of July to mid-October. All heifers are vet checked and have been pelvic measured since 2015, and any not suitable for breeding are put to the fattening pen. The vast majority of females are calved at two and a half years old.
The herd is enrolled in the premium cattle health scheme, boasting:
• Johne’s Level 1 accreditation
• BVD accredited and vaccinated
• Vaccination against IBR, BVD and Leptospirosis
“We like to run a tight calving period, so bulls are out with the cows for 12 weeks and just six weeks with the heifers,” commented Robert. “Since moving away from the Charolais, we haven’t seen much of a difference in the weights of the calves, and we generally find that the Simmental calves are a good weight for age. The males used to be kept entire, but we soon realised that the stots could stand up to the other breeds in the store ring.”
Autumn-born bullock calves are weaned and kept inside for six weeks before being sold privately. The autumn calving cows calve outside next to the steading, and they’re housed from the end of November. Stock is outside during the summer months, but Robert says it would be very rare to see anything go to grass here before May.
Heifers that are approaching the point where they will be evaluated for breeding (image: Rob Haining)
Spring-born calves will be weaned at the end of October, while male calves, born in the autumn, will be taken off their mothers in May, and won’t go out to grass. Heifer calves will normally run with their mothers until the beginning of July, because that’s when we start getting fly problems.”
With the Simmental being the only terminal sire amongst the cows, the females are almost pure. Between 15 and 20 replacements from each calving are retained, with the remainder sold to returning buyers through Aberdeen and Northern Marts at Thainstone in May, at 18 to 19 months of age. As Robert explains: “Just now we’re trying to keep cow numbers up, if not increase them, so I’ll look to bull, around 15 in the spring, and another 15 in the autumn.
“We still have a fattening pen on the farm for any heifers that we don’t think will make the grade for breeding,” commented Robert. “We only sell what we would be happy to breed from ourselves.
“There’s flexibility within the breed, which allows us to retain our own breeding stock. Anything we don’t want has a ready market up here – there’s a place for the females and we can sell the male calves store in February, when they are as good a weight for age as anything else.”
“This year, the Mansons hope to capitalise on the prime cattle prices and have retained around 40 bulls, keeping them entire, and reverted to bull beef. Robert says they’ll mature between 13 and 15 months old and will be sent to ABP at Perth.
“Normally, the males would have been castrated, but we’ve got the option with the Simmental breed that we can switch to bull beef and know that they’re going to produce in terms of weight for age. “It’s going to be a good carcass weight, it’s going to have a reasonable cost of production, and is allowing us to be very flexible with what we do and how we market our cattle.”
“I think it’s important that breeders keep focus from a commercial point of view and focus on maternal traits,” adds Robert. “When buying stock bulls, it’s important that they can produce replacements. As such, we look for long, deep bulls with a bit of shape that will pass through onto our females.”
Using the right animal genetics can help the beef industry become more efficient and profitable. Recently, Robert has turned his attention to using the Simmental breed classification system to refine his decisions—especially on the female side.
Cows typically begin calving in late February, with a second calving period starting at the end of July (image: Rob Haining)
“You can look back through lines and find how cows have been classified for feet, udders, temperament, all these things. I was lucky enough to witness it being done on a top Simmental herd, which I find fascinating and impressive for its accuracy.
At the end of the day, your eyes are your merchant, and you have to like what you see, but I didn’t realise how good a system that was for selection, and I will look through that more when I’m selecting in the future.”
The Simmental breed, with its balance of maternal power and terminal flexibility, has enabled the Mansons to build a cow that suits the land, the market, and the future.
As Robert puts it, “There’s flexibility within the breed that gives us options. It lets us breed what we need, sell what we don’t, and do it all in a way that works for our land and our family.
“The Charolais may still be the king for weight gain,” he concedes, “but the Simmental’s not far behind. And for our system, they suit us better across the board.”
Recent Comments