It’s the Salers docile nature, easy calving, and high milk levels that make it one of the top suckler cows and at Rednock Estate no other breed will do.
Malcolm and Gill Pye fell in love with the breed whilst visiting France in the late 1980s and shortly after founded a herd in the UK under the Rigel Pedigree name.
In 1991 they moved from their farm in Nottingham to a farm in Yorkshire alongside Malcolm’s brother and sister-in-law. However, it wasn’t until 2016, when the couple moved to the estate in Stirlingshire, that the Rednock pedigree was born.
The Pyes saw the unrealised potential at Rednock and built bespoke sheds and cattle steadings. From 1300 acres, 700 are now used as farmland with some being recovered from dereliction. 50% is used for permanent grass and rough grazing, and the other 50% is ploughable and in grass leys.
Check out our Photo Sales for more pics like these here
Rednock pedigree was founded on 45 of the best cows from Rigel and two herd sires. Now there are 155 pedigree Salers cows of which 100 run with four Salers herd sires to produce breeding bulls and replacement heifers.
The remaining 55 are bulled by two Charolais bulls to produce high-quality store cattle that sell mainly through United Auctions, Stirling.
“One of the many great things about Salers is you can let them run with the bull from 15 months of age because they are so fertile and they never have a problem returning to service as second calvers. Both sexes can have long working lives and cows can stay in production for more than 10 years,” said Gill.
Bulls run with the cows for nine weeks from the beginning of June for spring calving from March to May. Heifers weighing 450kg and over are mated to top AI sires at 15 months of age and are then run with the junior herd sire.
Due to the wet ground at Rednock, all calving is done indoors with cows and calves put out to grass at two weeks of age – depending on the weather – in mid-April. Salers' ease of calving and wide pelvis allow for any breed of sire to be used over them with little to no risk.
“The Salers are known as ‘the calving champion of the major beef breeds’ This trait combined with their growth and milkiness has been a key driver of their success in the UK where they're frequently mated to the biggest and most muscled terminal sires.”
Check out our Photo Sales for more pics like these here
Their excellent rates of growth and performance on grass and their ability to produce plentiful milk – typically between 3000 to 3800 litres – high in both casein protein and fat makes the breed ideal for rearing strong single and twin calves.
“Compared to other breeds their gestation period is short, typically lasting around 278 to 283 days, and with smaller calves born, weighing 32-42kg, they get up and suckle from day one.”
At Rednock, the cattle are fed grass in summer, silage during the winter months, and inside and minerals. No concentrates are fed due to the Salers' ability to grow successfully on lower quality forages which is traced back to the breed's home-land in France where they were renowned for being alpine cattle.
“The breed is known around the world for its robustness in all farming systems, problems with pneumonia and poor thriving calves are extremely rare.”
Malcolm and Gill's performance records their stock through BreedPlan and regularly measures their cattle on maternal traits, growth rates, and animal health.
Check out our Photo Sales for more pics like these here
“Selection for production from forage, for growth alongside the classic Salers maternal characteristics and Hi-Health disease monitoring are vital tools for keeping our suckled beef industry sustainable, competitive and easy to manage.”
They are long-standing members of the Biobest Hi Health scheme and are annually tested and certified free of BVD, TB, and Johnes disease with routine screening for IBR and Leptospirosis. Their stock is also vaccinated for BVD and IBR.
The Salers breed also prides itself on being free of the mutated myostatin growth gene.
“The mutated gene can have significantly negative effects on breeding performance, calving ease, and the ability to perform well on grass. It does free up the ability for suckler producers to use myostatin positive terminal sires if they wish without comprising breeding performance.”
Check out our Photo Sales for more pics like these here
At Rednock the Pyes run both polled and horned bloodlines so that bull buyers can select this trait if they want to produce easily managed polled offspring in their herds whilst maintaining the good suckler traits of the Salers breed. Currently, they are taking advantage of the good market prices for store cattle and are able to sell bulls all year round.
Some of the previous top prices achieved include 7500gns for Rednock Oregon and 7000gns for Rednock Prada. Most years, their bulls average £5300 and they sell between 12-15 pedigree bulls every year.
Bulls are the only stock bought in with the herd being otherwise closed.
“We will buy bulls from wherever the best ones are found if that be in the UK or in France. We currently run a two-to-one ratio on bought-in to home-bred bulls.”
Some of their best purchases to date have been the 12,000gns Drumaglea Kes from Pat Boyd in Tiree and Senateur which was imported last year from French breeder, David Fourtet.
Naturally, with such esteemed pedigrees, the Pyes also have a decent amount of show success under their belts with prizes from the local shows at Stirling and Gargunnock as well as red rosettes from the Royal Highland and the Great Yorkshire.
This year it was Rednock Salvador and Rednock Ukraine that took male, reserve, and junior champions at Ingliston with Ukraine also taking similar accolades in Yorkshire.
Check out our Photo Sales for more pics like these here
Ukraine was handpicked by Gill as a calf with the intention of selling her to raise money for Forth Valley Welcome, a local charity working with Ukrainian refugees both in Scotland and Ukraine. She is due to be sold at the breed society sale at Wallets Marts, Castle Douglas on Saturday, November 4.
At Rednock they also hold various events for young people including successful mock auctions, stock-judging, and farm tours for both SSS and Bathgate JACs.
They also have a partnership with the Glasgow Vet School giving students experience with fertility and PD testing. Alongside RHET they hold an estate day annually in November for all local primary schools to come and visit and experience the processes on the farm, forestry, and hunting estate.
“It’s really important for kids to get that experience seeing where their food comes from and the work that RHET does is really vital in getting these kids out of the classroom. The day is always met with great enthusiasm.”
Overall it’s the versatility and no-nonsense nature of the Salers that has really instilled it as part of Rednock’s story despite it only being here for seven years.
“As an industry, we are changing, quality beef producers need a cow that suits the job and in my opinion, Salers do just that, their optimal traits really make them the ultimate suckler cow.”
Farm Facts
Farm size: 1300 acres – 600 acres of forestry and 700 acres of farmland.
Stock: 155 pedigree Salers cows, four pedigree Salers bulls, and two Charolais bulls.
Show success: Reserve and junior champions at the Royal Highland Show 2023, best pair and junior champion at the Great Yorkshire Show 2023. Intermediate champion at Stirling Bull Sales in February 2022. Overall Salers champion at the Royal Highland Show 2021.
Other enterprises: Commercial forestry, sporting – deer stalking and driven/rough shooting, wedding venue being developed in the stable yard.
Who is involved: Malcolm and Gill Pye, livestock manager Iain 'Alfie' McGregor, and farm assistant manager Ben Outterside.
On The Spot
Biggest achievement: Getting on the farming ladder without inheriting a farm, working hard to make our passion for farming life a reality.
Best advice: You can get anywhere if you work hard enough.
Something you can’t live without: Good food and good wine.
Favourite cow: Rigel Cordelia – One year she won eight shows on the trot with twin calves at foot.
Where do you see yourselves in 2033: Hopefully still alive and hopefully still breeding cattle.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here