What does a rare breed farmer get for Christmas?
More animals!
We have been incredibly fortunate to source a small herd of endangered traditional dairy shorthorn cattle from Western Creek breeders Betty and Warrick Holmes.
Western Creek is under the Western Tiers behind Deloraine, and Betty and Warrick are reluctantly selling their animals and farm so they can move back to New Zealand to be with family.
The dairy shorthorns are absolutely beautiful beasts, with quiet and gentle natures, and we are so pleased that the Holmes’ have entrusted us with their care.
They’re a dual purpose breed which means they’re good for both milk and beef, and they’ve been around for about 200 years.
In the early 1900s the dairy shorthorn was the main breed of cattle in Britain, and was called the “farmer’s cow of England”. It fitted in well with the routine of a mixed farm.
But in a similar story to the Wessex Saddleback pigs, as farming intensified, the breed began to be lost.
Farmers were looking for either high milk production, or heavy carcass weight, and it’s hard to soup-up a cow to do both.
Around the world the dairy shorthorn genetics have been altered to focus on either of these traits, but we’re lucky in Australia there has been a concerted effort to preserve the original dual purpose genes. There's also good old stock in Ireland.
In Australia traditional dairy shorthorns are on the rare breeds list under ‘endangered’, along with traditional herefords and traditional angus.
Aren’t their coats lovely? Ours are mostly roan (red sprinkled with white) but we also have a pure white cow and a few white calves. They can also come in red.
We think they deserve to be held back from extinction because they're perfect for the smallholder wanting to milk a few cows and produce a decent beef animal for the freezer. They're also docile and calve easily. Dairy shorthorns were the foundation stock for many other red breeds, including illawarras and ayrshires.
Neither of us drink much milk, but Guy's already making plans for a small milking shed, and Eliza's digging out her cheese books. It'll be great to have our own yoghurt, butter and cheese to go with our homegrown meat and vegetables.
Warrick and Betty Holmes say goodbye to their cattle
You two are amazing. Just let us know when you go into full beef/milk/cheese/yoghurt production! And am thinking one of these beauties would look gorgeous on the cafe floor! Ps The demand for your Wessex Saddleback ham & bacon contiues unabated. We are totally out of both again! And our pizza with your pork is in Gourmet Traveller this month!
ReplyDeleteOh my god, you should enter your farm into an animal beauty contest. Yes, their coats are amazing! I bought myself this cow book for Christmas but... you got the *real* thing. Happy new year!
ReplyDeleteThank you for continuing the fight to preserve original breeds. They look lovely!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you are getting those gorgeous animals and I bet the Holmes' are pleased their herd will be in good hands. As a townie I really enjoy your potted histories of the various breeds. All the best!
ReplyDeleteHi Colette,
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing Gourmet Traveller, we have not tried pulled pork on a pizza yet, will have to give it a go. Both a highland rug and shorthorn rug would be impressive, maybe a mounted head would be stretching it too far?
Hi Sharon, we were tempted to buy the beautiful cows book for xmas. One day we would like to put together a book on rare breeds. I find myself gazing at the cattle nearly as long as the pigs.
Anonymous and Di, collecting rare breeds is a rewarding process, lots more breeds and profiles to come!
Have you seen the chook book? The photographer's website is here (Click personal > the fairest fowl). A book on rare breeds would be awesome!
ReplyDeleteThe Cattle are beautiful. Great to see more Rare/Old Breeds on your farm. We are just starting out with our Rare/Old Breeds. So far we have Wessex Saddleback sows,Pilgrim Geese and Light Sussex Chooks. We are planning to add Sheep and Cattle as well when we can track some down. Love reading your Blog and catching up on what's new.
ReplyDeleteGuy, will you eventually sell some of the calves and lambs that you produce?
ReplyDeleteSincerely, Lachie
Hi Lachie,
ReplyDeleteWe hope to be able to sell some shorthorns and shropshire in the next couple of years. We have 4 beautiful dairy shorthorn heifer calves this year and we will consider selling a couple of them in 12 months. We could source you some dairy shorthorns if you are keen.
Depending on how many ewe lambs we get next year we will consider as well, most of our flock is quite old so we will be rebuilding for the next couple of years.
Cheers Guy