The Salers Cattle Society explains why the breed is proving so popular in the UK. With the courtesy of the Northern Farmer THE Salers has grown in popularity since arriving from the French Central Massif in 1985, to now be the eighth largest beef breed in the UK. According to BCMS figures, over the last five years the number of calves by Salers bulls has increased by 50 per cent and the number of Salers suckler cows is up 34 per cent. Without the benefit of supermarket schemes or lavish funding for promotion, the secret of the Salers sustained growth is simply its demonstrated performance on farm, which rests on the Salers unrivalled calving ease. Farmers switching to Salers are often busy commercial farmers with large and/or varied farming enterprises and what they get from Salers is unassisted calvings, lower costs, more calves weaned, more kilos sold, more profit and less hassle. The Salers unique combination of traits stem from its origins in the Cantal mountains, where the cows were milked for cheese production, and their calves kept separately but are brought to suckle their dam twice a day after milking. These calves were sold as yearlings for fattening All this was achieved without concentrates, just grass or hay. This system selected cows that are great forage converters, are milky with good udders and that produce fast growing beef calves. Salers breeders in France are guided by their breed society to give importance to low birth weight and large pelvic area as selection criteria, which is reinforced by the selection of AI sires with these traits from amongst the young bulls from their bull test station. Traits underpinning the Salers’ outstanding easy calving: •
Calf conformation
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Dam pelvic area.
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Calf size (birth weight)
Calf conformation is very important. Some breed’s calves have a large head, shoulders or hips, which is where they get stuck in bad calvings. A Salers bull has a strong advantage as his calves have a streamline conformation (small heads, slender shoulders and hips). Salers sired calves are small compared to those by other breeds, with heifers typically 30-35kg and bulls 35-40kg. These low birth weights, in combination with slender calf conformation, are the secret of the Salers effortless easy calving. Also, the Salers gestation of 280 to 285 days is about ten days shorter than other continental breeds, taking about 5kg off the birth weight. The frustrations and costs of bad calvings are spurring farmers to switch to using a Salers bull for his easy calving. However, the real payoff comes if the Salers heifers are retained for replacement sucklers, as the Salers bull confers a very large pelvic area on his progeny. Research in the USA identified that the Salers has the largest pelvic area of any of the major beef breeds. Salers-sired cows put to the Charolais or Simmental bull are proving very successful as they calve unassisted to these breeds and have the milk and mothering ability to rear an outstanding calf that commands a premium at market. For more information, visit www.salers-cattle-society.co. uk or call the Salers Secretary on 07903 626249. 26 Salers Cattle Society
Salers Cattle Society 27