‘MODERN’ KILBRIDE FARM
SIMMENTALS HIGHLIGHT A
Kilbride Farm Simmental: 50 Years of Progressive Pedigree Breeding
Feature on the highly regarded Kilbride Farm Simmental Herd of the Society’s recently elected BSCS President Norman Robson, and the Robson family, based at Ballyclare, Co Antrim.
Elected in October 2022, British Simmental Cattle Society President Norman Robson is the third member of his family to hold this role – following in his father Billy and brother Michael’s footsteps. It is testament to the family’s enduring passion for the Simmental breed, which they’ve now been involved with for more than half a century.
Based in Ballyclare, Co Antrim, Norman and Michael run the Kilbride Farm herd in partnership, with Billy and Eileen officially retired, but still helping out – as do Norman’s son Angus and Michael’s son Matthew. It was founded in 1971,
with the purchase of four heifers from Germany, which formed part of the breed’s first importation to Northern Ireland. A further six heifers were bought the following year, which formed the basis of the herd.
Norman explains: “My father wanted to get into pedigree cattle and he felt that the Simmental offered us the most opportunities, which proved to be the case. Much of the progeny of those first females were exported to America – there was a big demand for Simmentals over there, and at that point they couldn’t import directly from Europe, but they could from us.”
The family worked away at improving the herd, using the best semen they could buy at that time, until their first stock bull was acquired in 1980. Billy ventured to France to select the bull ‘Orage’, which did exactly what they hoped he would. “Orage certainly put a stamp on the herd. He helped us increase growth, conformation and milk within the herd, and sired our first champion at the Perth Bull Sales, Kilbride Farm Perry, which went on to sell for 6,000gns, in 1985,” says Norman.
A few years later, the stock bull Moncur Sensation was bought privately and became the first Simmental to win the inter-breed title at Balmoral Show, also winning the breed’s Male of the Year title the same year, in 1989. Another bull that proved particularly influential on the herd in the earlier days was Milnafua Graduate, bought at Perth in 1998, which sired sons to 11,000gns, in addition to many high performing daughters.
Norman says: “Graduate daughters were very square females that calved easily on any bull and had plenty milk – we’ve had a lot of good bulls out of Graduate cows. While we were using Graduate, he hurt himself, which resulted in us using a home-bred bull, Kilbride Farm Newry, a son of Dovefields Gallant. We used him for two years before selling him to AI Services.” Newry went onto have a
huge influence on the breed and was one of the most used AI sires ever – topping the registration figures for several years in a row. For the Kilbride Farm herd, he sired successful breeding females and sons that made five-figure prices, including Kilbride Farm Strabane, which was champion at Perth in 2006 and sold for 10,000gns to the Blackford herd.
Another privately bought bull that performed well was Seaview Prince Charming, sire of the 2008 Perth champion Kilbride Farm Tarrant, which made 10,000gns to Corskie. And, Cairnview Snazzy, bought at Perth for 15,000gns, went onto be the sire or grand-sire to four Stirling champions, including Kilbride Farm Comber, the October, 2012 champion, which made 20,000gns.
The herd’s top price to-date is the 22,000gns Kilbride Farm Foreman, sold at Stirling in February 2016, where he was placed reserve supreme champion. His sire, Crugmelyn Brenin, was bought privately after being spotted at the English National Show. In addition to Foreman, a further two sons of Brenin sold privately at five-figure prices and his daughters became some of the best in the herd, with a few still remaining. Norman explains: “We do a fair bit of research before selecting a stock bull; we look at breeding lines and which ones are consistently doing well. Based on his genetics, we bought the homozygous polled bull Sneumgaard Imperator, as a three-month-old calf from Denmark. Michael was over there judging and visited the herd – they had two exceptional cows and he was a son of one of them.
How has Kilbride Farm successfully introduced the polled gene into their Simmental herd?
What are the performance benefits and flexibility of the Simmental breed across farming systems?
The Simmental breed offers unparalleled performance benefits and flexibility across all types of farming systems, from crossing on a Luing cow on the hill to high-output lowland suckler herds and as a crossing sire onto the dairy herd. This versatility is crucial, especially as the environmental impact of beef farming is under scrutiny, highlighting the breed's efficiency and sustainability. Norman, as President of the Society, emphasizes the importance of promoting these attributes.
