Ewen Campbell from Fort William shares all about his Angus

Ewen Campbell and the Kilmallie Aberdeen Angus live in the shadow of Ben Nevis Ref:RH190423036 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer...

With the croft being in the family for more than 200 years, there has certainly been some changes. The first pure Aberdeen-Angus cow was bought by Ewen’s Uncle Donald in 1983 and that line is still present today. The aim then was to produce continental cross show calves from the 30 commercial cows, but, that changed in 2008 when Ewen returned home and started the conversion to a pure Angus herd.

In 2013, the tenancy of Inverlochy Castle Farm was taken which reduced the family’s reliance on summer grazings on the Black Isle, that had become the norm.

“When I took on the Inverlochy tenancy in 2013, I was working full time at the SRUC’s Kirkton Farm and relied heavily on my Father and Uncle Donald to get by. We lost Dad in 2016 and Uncle Donald last year, so farm work has to be kept straightforward now.”

Morpheus Rosebud X086 and March born Kilmallie Rosebud Z403 Ref:RH190423048 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer...

“Working away from home to make the job viable meant I didn’t have time to spend calving cows, and there were a lot of calving problems with Angus to begin with, so it has been a steep learning curve,” said Ewen who has had to be very careful selecting lines for easier calving.

The current stock bull, Netherton Black Panther, was purchased privately three years ago, although he will need to be sold in the summer due to him coming back on to his daughters. Ewen also AI’s his best half dozen cows but always needs a bull to chase up.

Spring born calves, and anything fit for breeding is sold as stores Ref:RH190423043 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer...

Cows calve outside in the spring, while heifers produce their first at two-years-old in February. This gives them more of a chance when weather conditions on the west coast are not the most favourable.

“They do have a pretty tough time of it, but we don’t want to challenge them too much when we need them to get back in calf,” said Ewen, who has already purchased his next stock bull, Fordel Earl Boston privately, due to his good figures, pedigree and correctness.

“Easy calving is massively important, the difficulty is producing an easy calving calf that is fit to take to a society sale. The size and power you need to produce these types of cattle doesn’t always equate to easy calving,” said Ewen, who only sells bulls he believes are fit for society sales.

Around three bulls are kept entire per year when it is difficult to sell bulls privately as people don’t want to travel to Fort William. Males that don’t fit the bill are killed through ScotBeef, Bridge of Allan, while steers and heifers are cashed through the store ring at Dalmally or United Auctions’ Stirling centre.

Only four or five heifers are retained for breeding.

Cows are all spring calving Ref:RH190423040 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer...

“Temperament is a big factor when considering replacement females and then I look at the pedigree to see what the mothers’ track record has been. The female line is my main concern.

“I believe if I keep improving my females, the bulls will take care of themselves. I am looking to breed for easy calving and a cow that works for me – I don’t want to have to work for her. She has got to be hardy and productive and get on with it when I’m not there.

Ewen Campbell runs a small herd of Aberdeen Angus at Kilmallie Ref:RH190423027 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer...

“If circumstances changed and the land allowed, I would like to increase numbers,” he said.

At present, Ewen works away from home three days a week as farm manager of SRUC’s Hill and Mountain Research Centry at Kirkton and Auchtertyre Farms which is home to 1300 ewes and 30 commercial cows.

As a college farm there are a lot of experiments on the go, aiming to seek economically, environmentally and socially sustainable land management systems in the context of international, national and local land use policies.

At Kirkton, research and demonstration activities help highlight how precision livestock farming approaches can be used to address agricultural and environmental challenges.

from this years batch of bulling heifers Kilmallie Kristina X386 is one of Ewen's favourites Ref:RH190423035 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer...

The current focuses of the farms include:

• Assessing how different types of technology can help hill farmers and crofters improve livestock management and while also reducing costs, improving record keeping and saving time and labour.
• Established a Long-Range Wide Area Radio Network (LoraWAN) on the farms and are investigating what types of agricultural or environmental sensors can be used in remote, mountainous areas to improve decision making.
• Using modern genetic selection approaches – such as Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) – to show how best to enhance the productivity, profitability and environmental footprint of sheep flocks on mountain farms.
• Assessing the Public Goods associated with different types of land management in the mountains and demonstrating how a greater focus on biodiversity enhancement can be integrated into mountain farming systems.
• Involved in a range of international research projects and knowledge exchange activities as conditions in Scotland’s mountains are very similar to rangelands elsewhere across the globe.

Batch of Kilmallie bulling heifers Ref:RH190423032 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer...

“I enjoy the job as the research that takes place means every day is a school day. Travelling an hour morning and night is the hard bit,” said Ewen who has also just been elected onto the Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society council having attended his first meeting last month.

“I am honoured to be part of such an amazing society, I have got a lot out of the breed over the years, so it is only fair I put something back into it. I am excited for the challenge that it brings, and it already looks to be quite time demanding as we split up into various sub committees.

Batch of Kilmallie bulling heifers Ref:RH190423031 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer...

“Having the opportunity to make decisions that are going to affect the breed moving forwards is a great insight in to the massive business that the Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society is,” said Ewen, adding that the breed is in a promising place being in that enviable position as a global brand known for producing superior quality beef.

“I can really only see the Angus breed going one way when the future of the industry is going to be based on quality. The grading system for beef has to be altered at some point in the future which should ensure a better eating experience for consumers and reward the production of such quality cattle and it is the Angus that is renowned for that quality,” he said.

The Aberdeen Angus has plenty of milk and great mothering ability to take care of her calf Ref:RH190423044 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer...

“The shortage of cattle is a worry, when you see the number of cows going away and the situation is not going to improve. Increasing numbers of Scottish cattle going south of the Border is another concern as we need to be able to keep the numbers in Scotland.

“I am a glass half full kind of person, but the way politicians don’t bat an eye lid over dramatically decreasing cattle numbers does not help the situation. We need to change the public perception on how beef is produced in Scotland and how far removed it is from the social media view, and the fake news that cows are killing the planet.

“It’s frustrating to be producing a world class product that the public don’t really appreciate. But times will change, and we need to keep putting a positive spin on things and show how naturally reared our product is and how it is in fact good for the planet,” concluded Ewen.

Kilmallie Kylie S037 with her new born calf Ref:RH190423026 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer...

Farm Facts

Background? The Camaghael croft has been in the family since 1805, with a 10-year tenancy of Inverlochy Castle farm taken in 2013

Who is all involved? Ewen Campbell runs the herd, although couldn’t manage without a network of family and friends to call on. His wife, Elaine, daughter, Alice and son, Archie along with his mum and sister are all on call when required. Calum Dennison and Alan Macleod have assisted in the past and Bob McWalter is the main man at shows and sales.

Livestock numbers: 22 pure Aberdeen-Angus females along with a flying flock of 50-60 sheep.

Size of farm: Camaghael croft is made up of 5ha, with Inverlochy Castle farm, running 90 hectares, however a good half of it is woods and rough ground.

Morpheus Rosebud X086 and March born Kilmallie Rosebud Z403 Ref:RH190423037 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer...

On The Spot Questions

Best investment? 10 straws of semen from the Canadian bull HF Rebel which cost £500 and resulted in sales of more than £17,000

Best advice? Uncle Donald was a bit of an institution and an inspiration. Following him about as a youngster taught me a huge amount and gave me the opportunity to watch some of the greats like Bert Rugg, Rich Thompson and Ewen MacPherson in action

Biggest achievement? Being reserve supreme champion at last year’s winter national at Borderway Mart, Carlisle with Kilmallie Juggernaut Eric. He was also junior male champion at Stars of the Future and at the Black Beauty Bonanza before being sold privately for a five figure sum at 10-months-old.

Where do you see yourself in 2033? Hopefully still trailing about feeding cows in the mud, cursing the rain and loving every minute of it!

Morpheus Rosebud X086 and March born Kilmallie Rosebud Z403 Ref:RH190423039 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer...

Kilmallie Kristina V341 is one the the stock cows at Kilmallie Ref:RH190423024 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer...