Aberdeen Angus herd built for performance and longevity
By Patsy Hunter, Scottish Farmer 24th April
There’s nothing to beat the Aberdeen Angus for prolificacy and ease of management at Mains of Tonley, near Alford, where the Wattie family have built a herd with a reputation for performance and longevity.
Mark and his father, Neil, run around 120 pedigree Angus cows alongside a small pedigree herd of 12 Charolais females, 200 commercial ewes and 20 pedigree sheep comprising Beltex, Texels and Blue Texels.
The Aberdeenshire farm was bought by Mark’s grandfather, Neil, who went on to establish the Tonley herd in the early 1990s, inspired by his fondness for the Aberdeen Angus breed.
However, for the past decade, the day to day running of the 410-acre unit has largely been in the hands of third generation farmer Mark, with Neil concentrating on the family’s Claas dealership, Sellars, headquartered at Old Meldrum. Mark is supported by full-time employee Craig Coutts and part-time cattleman Robert Marshall.
The herd was founded with three key females purchased from the Warren herd, two of which – Vine and Julia – later featured in the 2021 production sale of cows with calves at foot, along with a full crop of yearling heifers. Other influential female families include the Belle, Elma, Emily, Equidora, Ester, Kay Pride, Rose, and Mark’s favourite and most prolific line, Princess.
“The Princess females stand out in the field,” says Mark. “They always have power behind them, but they’re still feminine, have plenty of milk, and they always seem to breed good females. There are more and more of them coming through.”
Princess of Greenley was one of the original heifers, and her descendants have gone on to sell consistently well, including a top of 20,000gns for Tonley Princess V676 at the 2021 production sale which sold to the Adam family at Newhouse of Glamis.
Mark has followed closely in his father and grandfather’s footsteps, rearing Angus because, as he puts it, he ‘caught the Angus bug’ growing up.
“They’re so easy to work with – probably so easy they can be quite stubborn,” he laughs. “They’re milky, easy calved and low maintenance.
“They’re also very prolific – the oldest cow in the herd is 16 years old, and she’s still one of our best breeders.”
That cow is the dam of Tonley Bingo Bongo, Mark’s mainstay for next weekend’s breed sale at Carlisle. The April 2025-born calf has already made a mark for himself, standing first at Agri Expo, Stars of the Future and the Black Beauty Bonanza.
“The consistency and longevity of a female line can define a herd’s success for generations,” he adds.
The Watties have enjoyed success at the February, May and October Bull Sales at Stirling and Carlisle, with numerous five-figure prices achieved over the years.
Their standout moment to date came when they set a new herd record with Tonley Ezra A227, which sold for 35,000gns to the Cheyne family’s Mayen Estate in February and sold eight bulls to average just under 10,000gns. The herd also produced the female champion that day with Tonley Princess A233, which sold for 4800gns.
Another high point for the herd was United Auctions’ sale in February 2023, when Tonley Endgame and Tonley King Paco took the champion and reserve titles, respectively, backed up by multiple group awards. All the bulls sold that day were sired by Tonley Jester Eric, whose progeny have been highly successful in the show and sale ring, with top prices of 24,000gns and 12,000gns.
Two bulls from the Elma family have also bred top priced sons, including the Stirling February 2016 champion, Tonley Evor, which made 24,000gns.
More success followed in October 2024, when Tonley Princess Z108, a Kilmaluag Eriskay T203 daughter out of Tonley Princess W783, topped the sale at 15,000gns.
Alongside the 120 pure Angus cows, the herd runs three Angus stock bulls – Drumhill Exchange Rate which was purchased from Jonathan and Lisa Doyle at the October 2024 Stirling sales; Blelackhill Bruno bought privately as a calf from the Calcot family and Idvies Pink Profit, also bought at Stirling and shared with the Doyles.
Cows are kept outside all year round but are brought inside to straw bedded courts to to calve between the end of March and the beginning of June. As soon as they calve, they go back outside to reduce the incidence of disease and keep the calves healthy.
“We like to spread calving to match the February, May and October sales,” he explains. “The aim is to keep around 25 bulls for selling and 15 and 20 females of which 10 are sold,” he continues.
“The rest are used as recipients or sold through the store ring at Thainstone. I usually have a fair idea from the outset what I’m keeping for breeding, but the final decision is made at weaning – you have to like them yourself to be able to keep them.”
Bulls are run in one big group. Those earmarked for breeding, go back to grass, while the others are finished indoors on an ad-lib TMR of silage and 50% spring barley grown on farm. The barley is Alpha treated to lift the protein from 10% to 14% and help balance rumen pH. Cows are wintered on a 60-acre hill and given ad-lib silage supplemented with minerals.
Cows not in calf may be given another chance, depending on how strongly Mark rates their breeding line. “Generally, if there are any problems, they just go, especially if it’s something that hasn’t made you any money,” he says.
Bulls that don’t make the grade are sold at around 14 months through ABP at Perth, weighing 700-750kg liveweight and grading mainly R or U. Last year, they averaged about £2500.
The Watties also flush their best females through AB Europe, and particularly their most influential Charolais.
“I’m concentrated more on the Charolais because I want to build them up too,” says Mark. “I put eight embryos into recipients, so we’ll have an extra eight on top of the 12 already calving, which will increase the numbers.”
Currently, Mark and the team are preparing seven bulls for the Carlisle sale, along with two heifers and four bulls that are bound for the Stirling sale.
“We take a different type of bull to Carlisle,” he explains, where their top price so far is £12,500 for Tonley Vettel.
“Carlisle bulls tend to have a bit more shape, and buyers there are also looking for younger bulls, which seem to sell better at Borderway. Buyers at Stirling in May want a big, strong bull that’s a bit older and ready to work.”
Two of his favourites for Stirling are Tonley Jackflash Eric and Tonley Jumping Jack are by Kilmaluag Eriskay and Tonley Endgame respectively.
Such is Mark’s enthusiasm for the breed that last November, he helped launch the inaugural Black Gold Select Sale, at ANM’s Thainstone Centre at Inverurie, hosted by the Northeast of Scotland Aberdeen Angus Club. The selection process was rigorous, but Mark’s goal, he says, was simple – to offer buyers exceptional quality heifers that would either enhance existing operations or lay the foundations for an outstanding herd. He hopes the event, which follows the Black Beauty Bonanza Calf Show, will become an annual fixture.
Apart from buying in bulls, the Tonley herd is closed, although Mark will occasionally source a heifer to introduce fresh bloodlines. He is however, wary of relying too heavily on figures.
“I don’t believe in getting too hung up on EBVs,” he says. “I look at the breeding, then see what she looks like, and if the figures stack up, it’s a bonus. We’ve always kept an eye on the figures – they can be a good selling tool – but the bull himself is more important.”
“When we bought Idvies Pink Profit last February, he was -11 for calving, which is why some people steered clear of him. But if it was looks you were after, he was one of the best bulls many breeders had ever seen, which is how he made crazy money. His figures looked bad, but we’re seeing his first crop of calves now, and they’re eye catching and very promising.”
Mark often returns to a piece of advice from his grandfather: “Look at the calf and don’t worry too much about what the cow looks like.” That philosophy was vindicated when they bought Blelack Jubilee Erica for 5500gns at the on-farm Blelack Matron reduction sale in 2012. “We took her first calf to Agri Expo, and it won,” he says.
Keen show supporters, the Tonley herd regularly excels at Echt and Turriff Shows, as well as the Royal Highland, where they took the breed championship in 2024 with Tonley Fiona Y937. A daughter of Tonlery Fiona, she also won the yearling heifer title at the Black Beauty Bonanza in 2023 and was overall champion at Agri Expo the same year, before selling for 8500gns.
