Move to pedigree beef pays off for Scottish farming family.
By Angela Calvert, Farmers Guardian, October 11th 2024 edition.
Boreland Farm, near Kirkcowan, in southwest Scotland, has been run by the McCornick family for almost 100 years, but in the last 20, the livestock system has undergone a significant transformation.
Switching from dairy to pedigree beef and sheep was a change that suits the whole McCornick family – Martin and Emma and their daughters Gemma and Kate – all livestock enthusiasts who each play their part in the running of the business. Gemma returned to work at home full-time nine years ago, after completing her applied animal science honours degree at SRUC Edinburgh, while Kate, who works in the Scottish Ambulance Service, helps out when she can and takes her holidays to fit around the show and sale calendar.
The team are currently prepping five Aberdeen-Angus bulls from their 100-cow McCornick herd, for the upcoming Stirling bull sales. The Angus cows run alongside 12 pedigree Charolais cows and 350 breeding sheep, mainly Lairg-type North Country Cheviot ewes, and some Beltex cross Texels, plus Gemma’s own 35-ewe Park Cheviot flock, Emma’s Hebrideans and they have a small flock of Roussins, which Martin’s late father, Peter, established around 30 years ago.
Peter also founded the McCornick Charolais herd, back in 1974 and bulls from it are often sold straight off the farm to regular customers, with their top price through the sale ring being the 10,000gns McCornick Fusion, at Carlisle in 2011. Their best day with Charolais at Stirling was at the May sale in 2019, when they secured the champion and reserve tickets, with McCornick Nesquik, which went onto sell for 8,500gns and McCornick Newyork, which made 6,500gns.
Initially, when the dairy cattle were sold off in 2000, the beef enterprise began with 200 Aberdeen-Angus cross cows, but their liking for the Angus breed increased with the years and the herd has gradually transitioned to entirely pure-bred, pedigree cattle.
Martin says: “We went to see the Rawburn and Wedderlie herds and really liked that type of cattle. In 2006, we bought two heifers at the Border Blacks sale from Rawburn and Wedderlie, then a further eight draft cows from Rawburn. We have added a few more over the years, including Netherton Kim F381, Wedderlie Evensorrel G411 and three families from the Halbeath herd – Kerry, Kitty and Pam.”
The McCornicks say they manage the pedigree cows the same way as they did the commercials with them costing no more to keep by outwintering on rough hill ground, surrounding a stone quarry, on straw, silage and minerals.
Martin says: “Going all pedigree really simplified the system for us. We are a closed herd now, breeding our own replacements and any bulls not making the grade as a pedigree bull, sell well fat at 13-15 months old. The pedigree Angus cows milk as good as any commercial. We calve all the heifers at two years old and put the bottom end of the herd to the Charolais bull. Calving outside reduces any disease issues and the Angus calves are always quick to get up and suck.”
A major change in recent years has been the McCornicks’ purchase of the farm, which is just short of 243 hectares (600 acres), from Clugston Estate, after being lifetime tenants since 1929. Martin says it was his father’s dream to own the farm one day and they finally got that opportunity in 2018, just as Peter sadly passed away.
Gemma says: “Grandpa knew it was happening before he died and it meant a great deal to him. He was always asking about the progress when we visited him in hospital. That said, he always treated the farm like his own and he brought us up to respect it like that too.”
Since their acquisition, the McCornicks have worked at improving the steading to suit their system, replacing the 90-year-old hay shed and erecting a new shed for young bulls, which now allows them to keep the young bulls in through the winter. The cattle are outwintered and all calve outside in the spring. They remain in the age groups that they calve in until they are sorted into bulling groups.
Martin says: “We start introducing creep to the calves in July, until weaning time in November. At that point, the heifer calves and bullocks are wintered outside and the young bulls we’ll be bringing out for sale, are wintered in the new shed. We always try to take the best bulls forward to society sales, as it is a good showcase for the breed, but we do sell bulls at home too.”
The McCornicks are particular when it comes to the type of cattle they breed. Because they are run commercially and outwintered on the hill, they want a moderate sized cow and good feet and legs are a must.
“People breed different types for different systems, but we are trying not to go to any extreme and ultimately keep the commercial buyer in mind. We have regular customers that come back and they are expecting good, sound, commercial bulls. Our system means the cattle can’t be pampered, so they must be hardy and easy fleshing,” Martin says.
When it comes to choosing a stock bull themselves, Gemma says it needs to catch the eye, first and foremost.
She says: “We look for something with style and character, but it needs to have natural shape, enough bone to carry itself, square plates, with a well-set tail head and sound feet and legs. You definitely can’t go on figures alone.”
Some of those that have hit that mark and clicked successfully with the herd, include Netherton Mr American, a son of the 30,000gns Netherton Missie A114, bought in 2007, which bred bulls to 7,000gns and impressive females too. At the Halbeath dispersal in 2013, the McCornicks bought two young bulls, Halbeath Pentagon and Halbeath Kitemark. Both proved good breeders, particularly Pentagon, which sired the herd’s top two prices to-date. McCornick Destroyer sold for 11,000gns at Stirling in October 2017, and McCornick Evening Express, which also made 11,000gns, at Stirling in October 2018.
Another stock bull worth a mention is Skaill Dino, bought at Stirling in 2015, which made a big impression on the herd and bred bulls that consistently sold between 6,500-8,500gns, including the champion at the February 2020 sale, McCornick Pathfinder, which made 7,500gns. It was also sire of the family’s most successful show female to-date, McCornick Keira U451, a granddaughter of one of the founding females, Netherton Kim F381, which won the breed championship at the Royal Highland Show in 2019, on the McCornicks’ debut there as exhibitors.
They also enjoy showing at the Agri-Expo event and have won the championship there with the young bull, McCornick Kerry’s Boy, a son of another successful show female, McCornick Kerry P000. Supporting the local shows is important too and winning the champion of champions title at Wigtown with Keira and a calf at foot, Korker, was a particular highlight in 2023.
“Korker is one of the bulls heading to Stirling this month, further proof that good show cows can also be good breeding cows,” says Martin. “In fact, Keira was bulled three weeks after returning home from winning the Highland and calved a week after turning two years old.”
The McCornicks have often used home-bred bulls and one that they are especially pleased with is a full brother to Keira, McCornick Kaiser, which bred a 6,500gns seller at Stirling in February and has another two sons destined for next February’s sale.
Four of the bulls heading to Stirling this month are sons of Wedderlie Valentine, a bull picked out of the yearling pen and bought privately. The other bull in the team is the previously mentioned Korker, a son of McCornick Evening Express, which they bought back from Andrew Elliot in 2022. They sold another son of his, McCornick Energy Z998, at the Carlisle sale in May for 7,000gns, to Graeme Massie, after winning a junior class at 14-months-old.
With pedigree sheep and cattle, it is a busy sale season for the family and Gemma was delighted with the trade for her Park Cheviot shearlings at Lockerbie, selling up to £5,500. October is all about the Bull Sales though, with their five junior bulls heading to Stirling for the show on October 20-21.
