Helmsman Auction at Fearn

Beef Shorthorn cattle have been a feature at Fearn for almost 30 years with the original cattle being sourced from the Calrossie dispersal and subsequently female lines have been added from Dunsyre and Glenisla and via ET from New Zealand

Our herd now numbers 100 pure bred cows and in-calf heifers and all three generations of the family have a say in its management

Over the years the focus has always been on building a herd of functional cows, which suit our farm and the way we run it. They must be able to out winter only coming in for the calving period and spend the summer on a grazing rotation, which complements our sheep enterprise

In the past we sold bulls either privately or through society sales and enjoyed a degree of success with this method, but Covid changed and we needed to think out of the box and come up with a different way to sell bulls

A chance encounter with the Giddings in New Zealand gave us the opportunity to try something different Fiona and I had been to a wedding in Twizel and as we approached Mackenzie Country we saw some cracking Angus bulls at the side of the road and hit the brakes to have a closer look. George Giddings came along and we spent an hour blethering cattle, as you do and caught up with him and his father David the following week at Christchurch Show.

We kept in touch and in 2020 when we were trying to work out what to do with bulls and tups we got in touch to see how they were marketing their stock

They had successfully developed

Yourbid an online selling platform, using a Helmsman style auction, which allowed customers to bid from wherever they wanted, with internet coverage. It’s not a sequential sale, the whole sale finishes at once, which means you can move around bidding on your chosen lots then falling back to second picks if required making it very fair for buyers and sellers.

We used it for our ram sale and it worked, so the natural progression was to use it for cattle as well In 2022 we held our first cattle sale and it worked a treat for the beef Shorthorns.

We present cattle for sale fit not fat Stepping away from the feed bucket, which was used for multiple feeds a day for bulls sold through conventional methods has been liberating.

In the last few months pre-sale we feed all of our bulls outside on a TMR mix, which is mainly silage with a little home grown oats, peas and barley and they come in for viewing days and the sale. This balanced approach lets the bulls develop naturally and aids longevity

Whilst it’s great to get the odd bull away to a stud herd, we have a very strong commercial focus and want to encourage more commercial beef farmers to consider the beef Shorthorn, which crosses really well with most other breeds, produces an excellent breeding heifer and the steers command a premium with Woodhead’s and make excellent eating.

Health status has always been a priority, we have been Johnes level 1 for 13 years, vaccinate for BVD and test annually for Neospora giving us a level 2 status with one more clear test to attain level 1. All cattle are vaccinated for BD and heifers are vaccinated for Lepto

In our first two Yourbid sales bulls have peaked at £9600 and averaged over £5000 and although we have achieved a higher individual price selling through the auction ring we would struggle to hit that average especially after costs, which are growing rapidly year on year

It’s not for everyone however and we appreciate that but for us it’s the future, being able to sell our stock from the farm lets us look after them and our customers

Our ‘Northern Lights’ sale this year is on 20th January with 22 bulls, 9 in calf heifers and a cow with calf at foot on offer, we look forward to welcoming everyone onto the farm, roast beef rolls and hot soup will be waiting www fearnfarm com

by