The Robson name has been synonymous with breeding pedigree cattle around Ballyclare in Co Antrim for decades now. Irish Tractor & Agri found out more about Kilbride Farms Simmentals from Michael Robson, one of the members of the clan.
Breeding champions is no easy task – whatever field you might be in – but the Robsons in Ballyclare have been making it look easy for the best part of half a century now.
Having founded their first herd 45 years ago, the owners of Kilbride Farm Simmentals have seen their fair share of champions come and go through their gates, but this year may have been the best of the lot.
There have been no fewer than seven “Perth” Supreme Championship winners over the years from the Kilbride Farm, which is a record within the breed, and although Michael Robson feels it should have been eight, the Co Antrim native is willing to settle for one less.
After all, the objective for the Robsons’ family farm has always been to produce structurally sound docile cattle, from a grass based system, with the emphasis on beefing qualities, milking ability and breed character backed up by performance figures.
Michael told us more, while filling us in on some of the background and the details of the farm itself.
“We’re based at Kilbride Farm, Doagh, Ballyclare, Co Antrim,” explained Michael. “My father (Billy) took over this farm in the mid-1950s and we’re still here, so I suppose you could say that we’re established 65 years.
“The Farm is run as a family partnership with decisions made by my father, brother Norman and myself. We also employ two full time stock men. My son Matthew also helps out as much as he can as he’s studying at Queen’s at the moment, so it’s very much a family run farm. My other son Andrew and Norman’s children, Charlotte and Angus are still at school.”
Situated on the slopes of the Six Mile Water Valley, the Kilbride Farm herd was founded in 1971 with the importation of heifers from Germany.
Very few females have been purchased since then with the most notable being Carn Eunice from which the highly successful Eunice family originated. The herd has expanded through the use of the best bulls they could buy from the UK, Ireland, France Germany and Denmark along with AI.
The herd contains approximately 95 pedigree cows at the moment and although the Robsons have been very successful showing in the past they no longer compete at the summer shows to help maintain a high health status within the herd.
Kilbride Farm bloodlines dominate the prize lists at many shows and sales throughout the UK and Ireland. Stock and semen have been exported from the herd all over the world from as far apart as Denmark, Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America.
“We sell bulls and females privately at home, local sales in Dungannon and Ballymena, and at the major sales in Stirling and Carlisle. This February was our most successful sale in Stirling as we received the top price of 22,000gns and averaged 8,500 for 9 bulls
“Although showing at summer shows is very important and enjoyable we have probably been more successful at sales since we stopped showing as the bulls run outside during the summer rather than being fed inside for shows which makes them fitter at sale time. Also the females are healthier and more fertile without the extra feed.”
Billy, Michael and Norman are all recognised judges and have judged at many of the major shows in Britain and Ireland, as well as Denmark, Germany and Australia.
Now breeding and selling is very much the name of the game at Kilbride Farm Simmentals and they have seen a very strong demand for bulls and heifers both for pedigree and commercial use, which has seen the family having to invest in some new facilities for the business. “We have built a new bull house after studying many layouts and it seems to be working well. It is very open and the bulls can run out onto a wood chip area all the time and also grass paddocks when it is dry enough. Farming is a business and we have noticed that many farmers now only want the very best bulls so as to produce the best quality stock they can.”
Bulls deemed not suitable for breeding are sent for slaughter and because of their fast growth rates still do well as they generally produce a 400kg U3 carcase at 12-13 months old.
“Our other main enterprise is a 350 sow pig unit,” he outlined.
The pig unit is a minimal disease unit and is a birth to bacon enterprise with the pigs being sold on to Dunbia. Although pig margins are slim at the moment a new weaning and rearing house is being constructed with the hope that things will improve in the future.
Michael revealed that the Robsons were one of the first families from Northern Ireland to take bulls to Perth in Scotland in 1980 and they’ve kept up the tradition of travelling across the Irish Sea two or three times annually for the last 36 years.
The latest initiative to help boost sales at Kilbride Farms has been the company website (kilbridefarm.co.uk), which has seen a boost in sales since going live, as the man himself explained.
“We’ve had quite a lot of sales off the website and our Facebook page, and at the minute we’re actually doing very well with regards to sales,” said Michael.
“We sell privately to England, Scotland and Southern Ireland a lot. Unfortunately one of our best Stock bulls died recently after he ate one of those Chinese lanterns. He was a big loss but we have 2 new stock bulls which seem to be breeding well, one of which is homozygous polled. Polling is something we have been doing for a few years as we feel it may be important in the future as labour on farms decreases and also from a welfare point of view.”
As for their own land, the Robsons have 230 acres which they own the majority of while renting the rest. Most of the work that goes into maintaining all those acres is let out to local contractors, so as other priorities can be concentrated on.
“All our silage work is contracted out. We have some machinery of our own, like a 135 McCormack and a Case JX1100U. We also have a JCB TM220 Shovel which does most of the hours for us,” said Michael.
“The contractor work that we let out lets us concentrate on the stock and we are one of the first on our silage contractors’ list.
“As I said, cattle and pigs are the main enterprise for us. We used to keep sheep and grow barley but the last 10 acre barley field we had was sown down this year and the only sheep are winter grazed ewes for other people.”
He concluded: “We’re just looking to keep it simple now and concentrate on the animals that we have here at the moment. Hopefully we’ll have as good a second half of the year now.”
Kilbride Farm Simmentals
Address: 106 Cogry Road,
Ballyclare, Co Antrim
Tel: 02893340304
Mob: +44 7968814180
Web: kilbridefarm.co.uk
E-mail: [email protected]
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 4 No 6, July/August 2016
