The Farmers Mart Dec/Jan 2016 - Issue 43 | Page 58

Wallstone Farm

Ithersay Uberto
A pedigree Piemontese bull busting
with power, shape and length.
Increase your grades and kill outs
£10 per straw + delivery
Call Craig on 07876613221

The calves are born fawncoloured, and turn grey-white
as they mature. Piemontese
cattle carry a unique gene
mutation which causes
hypertrophic muscle growth, or
double muscling, giving them
a striking appearance. They
convert forage very well which
then leads to a better beef
with less fat, well-marbled,
succulent, tender and with a
wonderful flavour. Another
added bonus for today’s health

conscious market is that their
meat is very low in cholesterol.
They bone out at 83 percent
and kill at 70 percent. The
sucklers have good milk yield
and a strong maternal instinct
which in turn means more live
calves.
The first half dozen Piemonts
came from Greenay Farm in
Gloucestershire and proved to
be excellent. Today ,they farm
100 acres with 43 pure bred
Piemont Bulls, 80 cows along

58 Dec/Jan 2016 www.farmers-mart.co.uk

with some pure Limousins and
Piedmont crosses. Bulls are
brought inside after weaning
and fed on corn and barley.
The cows are fed on grass at
50 percent hay,50 percent
sileage.
Craig likes to keep a keen
eye on the finances: his target
is for each animal to get to
600KG in 14 months and cross
breds to 700kg in 13 months.
All the animals now go via
ABP which now has a new

computerised state of the art
grading process, which means
they are getting a fair price for
each animal.
After meeting all the
challenges in their own
enterprising and determined
way, Craig and Eric now have
a well-established herd that
continues to grow – and it is
clear that they work well as
a family team, managing to
combine a lot of hard work with
some fun along the way.