The Upsall Herd May Be Britain's Oldest Herd of Beef Shorthorns
but owner Gerald Turton has used the newest recording and testing available to aid genetic progress. “They make very good mothers and because of their wide pelvic bone they calve easily. They come to puberty earlier than other breeds and they do extremely well on poorer grazing ground. Gerald Turton is the third generation of his family to be involved with the development of the Upsall herd which he introduced to performance recording in 1996 to improve genetics and, more recently, has been using DNA testing to improve breed traits. So it is not surprising that the herd based at the Upsall and Roxby Estate near Thirsk in North Yorkshire in the heart of Shorthorn country, was awarded the first Most Improved Beef Shorthorn herd prize in Eblex's Beef Better Returns Programme.
“Beef Shorthorns are also quiet and easy to manage which are all traits which should be of particular importance now when people have less time.” Gerald's son, Robin, is the most recent family member to become involved with the herd at Upsall. Nearly three-quarters of the farm is down to arable crops, with the rest permanent pasture for the pedigree Shorthorns.
Managed by stockman Laurence Fenton, the polled herd showed the greatest genetic gain for commercial traits over a 12-month period, as reported to the centralised database run by the English Beef & Lamb Executive (Eblex). To mark the herd's centenary this year, Gerald is staging a celebratory sale on the estate's Park House farm on September 12, conducted by United Auctions (UA), Stirling, enabling established and potential breeders to buy into the herd's bloodlines. The Upsall herd was founded by Gerald's great uncle, Sir Edmund Turton, when he purchased four pedigree heifers, registering the first bull calf in Coates Herd Book in 1909, when the Beef Shorthorn was in its hey day. Gerald's father, Robin Turton - Lord Tranmire succeeded in the herd's management as well as in his uncle's footsteps as an MP for 45 years, and since Gerald took on the running of the 1,000-acre predominantly arable estate and the herd in 1960 there was never any doubt that he would continue with the breed - a later brush with the imported continental breeds further strengthened his resolve. “I think the future for the Beef Shorthorn is very encouraging with a number of beef marketing initiatives emerging which will take advantage of the breed's superior meat eating qualities. “The Beef Shorthorn is a maternal breed which has unique traits and those who want decent suckler cows would be well advised to look to the Shorthorn to breed their own replacement females if they don't want to buy them in. 30
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Gerald has always been interested in performance recording. He started weighing his animals in the 1970s and joined a recording scheme 25 years ago. He is now involved in DNA testing for disease prevention, as well as making routine use of Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) - the overall performance measurement which Eblex promotes. “Next to animal health, we recognise we need to make performance recording figures a priority in improving our herd. There is much to learn from scanning and the percentage accuracy of EBV figures as a tool to breed better cattle,” said Gerald. “In recent years we have been scanning using Igenity DNA to identify marbling, tenderness, rig eye volume, carcase fat and other traits in our home bred bulls as an added breeding tool.”