The Farmers Mart Feb/Mar 2014 - Issue 32 | Page 36

CATTLE

Liley Angus herd hosts
successful Open Day
In just his fourth year of
breeding Aberdeen-Angus
cattle, Ben Marsden of
Marsdens Farms hosted a
successful open day at his
Liley Angus herd based at
Penistone, near Sheffield,
which saw keen pedigree
breeders and commercial
producers travel from
across England, Wales
and Scotland to attend the
event.
On show throughout the day
was the 120-cow herd which
has been purchased both
privately from noted breeders
and with the addition of leading,
high priced lines from official
Society sales.
Visitors also got the

36

Feb/Mar 2014 FarmersMart

opportunity to view the herd’s
elite flushing cow base, as well
as the three bulls that were on
offer for the Stirling Bull Sales.
On hand to offer advice
to breeders regarding sire
selection was the Cogent
Breeding team, as Ben has
forged a relationship with them
through the private sale of
Liley Ed M021 to the genetics
company as a new sire for their
beef portfolio.

Also carrying out a
demonstration as to the merits
of semen testing bulls prior to
sale and use was vet Julia Platts
of Donaldson Vets, based at
Huddersfield. One of the bulls in
the selling pen was given a full
inspection by Julia with visitors
able to see samples under the
microscope.
Commenting on the day, Ben
Mardsen said: “It was pleasing
to see the amount of folk who
made the effort to travel to
Liley to view the herd and see
what we have on offer. It was
also great to chat to so many
enthusiastic Angus breeders
and commercial producers
looking to source bulls who
clearly have a passion for the
breed.”
Adding his thanks, Ben would
like to thank Donaldson Vets,
Cogent Breeding and Asda who
laid on catering on the day, for
all their help on the day.

To read more, visit www.farmers-mart.co.uk