Breeding pedigree red Aberdeen-Angus due to their docility, easy calving, and rare abundance is the Mosshall herd, based in the central belt of Scotland at Blackburn, West Lothian, being one of the largest red Aberdeen-Angus herds in the country.
Run by George and Nikki Taylor, along with stockman, James Reid, the team established their herd in August 2011 to run alongside their suckler herd, having previously been a dairy farm, which was fully dispersed in November 2012.
“Leaving the dairy industry, we wanted a balanced family life but as well our infrastructure needed to be upgraded for us to continue. The amount of land we have meant we couldn’t expand the dairy so were being penalised for milk volume. It was a time when milk prices weren’t great and we needed to look to the future,” said George.
The commercial suckler herd which originated from crossing the dairy herd with Angus and Simmental bulls started at around 120 head. The commercials have gradually reduced as pedigree numbers have risen and currently consist of around 20 females who are put in calf to a red Aberdeen-Angus bull. The progeny are then sold as store cattle at around 400kg in weight with a few heifers being retained for use as embryo recipients.
“We chose to breed red Aberdeen-Angus due to their quiet nature, easy calving, softer fleshing, strong maternal nature, and excellent finishing traits. We wanted to do something different, and we thought this was the answer.
“We felt there was a gap in the market and there is no point in following on from what everyone else is doing,” said Nikki, adding that pedigree numbers have now taken over from the commercial herd and currently run at around 90 red Aberdeen-Angus breeding females and 30 black Aberdeen-Angus, both of which are registered the same way through the Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society.
The herd was founded on private purchases from various herds in the UK and overseas in 2011, along with using some AI and ET work to widen the genetic base.
Other females were bought in from Denmark and other black herds in the UK along with the odd few red heifers that there were available.
“Danish cattle are of a higher health status than the UK so we knew there would be no risk to our herd bringing them in, however, that was before all of the associated cost rises prior to Brexit, we also brought in embryos from Canada to widen the genetic pool,” said George, pointing out that the herd is in the SAC Premium Cattle Health Scheme and is BVD Negative and Johnes Negative Risk Level 1.
Nikki added: “By purchasing these genetics we wanted to make sure the Red Angus we are producing has the strong frame and the size we are looking for. The market for red Angus is mainly commercial so we want something that is going to weigh and have that bit of natural shape and size that our buyers tend to look for.
“We are looking for cattle that breed an easy, soft fleshing animal with a good top line, sound set of feet and legs, with frame and shape. Coming from a dairy background, we also want a good udder on our cows.
“The red Angus keeps the colour in its offspring, breeding the perfect calf for both the store ring and replacement females,” Nikki added.
Mosshall aims to sell around 20 bulls annually, between private sales throughout the UK, Ireland, and Europe, and since stockman, James Reid came on board two years ago to help push the herd further, they also sell two or three at Society sales.
The first bull sold at Stirling was Mosshall Red Brutus W189 in February 2022. He stood first in the pre-sale show, before selling for 8500gns – believed to be the highest-priced red Angus bull sold at auction in the UK.
Last October the team also secured the reserve intermediate champion with Mosshall Red Dancer X314, which later realised 7500gns.
This time, the team has two bulls entered, Mosshall Red Junior Eric Y429, and one of the youngest bulls offered, Mosshall Red Laddie Y488, both of which are sons of Mosshall Red Ferdinand U922.
The majority of stock bulls are home-bred as the Taylors find it difficult to source bulls and having worked with Genus and Cogent, a lot of the genetics in AI go back to the herd’s breeding.
In a bid to seek out alternative genetics, the team buys in the odd black Angus female at dispersal sales to try and breed the red gene into them, which takes a turn and a half.
Once you get a red Angus heifer calf, they will always breed a red calf when put to a red bull.
George and Nikki have also recently purchased the black Angus bull, Isauld Lord Hector T816 from Ranald Pottinger, Caithness.
He is currently running with a group of red and black pedigree cows to try and get that line into the herd, with his first crop of calves due in the spring.
Most of the herd starts calving from early March aiming to be finished by mid-May, with the exception of bought-in females that may fall out with normal calving patterns. All heifers calve down at under three years of age in December or January then join the main herd the following year.
Most years, 20 heifer calves are retained with 30 sold privately. Anything not fit for breeding purposes is sold store through United Auctions, Stirling.
“There is a massive demand for females which we hope continues and increases going forward, we manage to sell all of our females privately as they sell so easily, with the majority going for export,” said Nikki.
Getting their name out there, the team has recently started in the show ring, since stockman, James has come on board. The team has ventured to the Royal Highland Show already managing to pick up several red tickets. Last year won the champion group of three, and then this year champion Aberdeen-Angus pairs and second place to the overall champion in the heifer class, along with a further two first prize tickets.
“It is difficult competing red Angus against the black Angus, due to people’s traditional opinions, however judges are starting to see their qualities and potential. Angus cattle need to be judged for the animal they are and not their colour,” said James.
“We want to start exhibiting cattle more at shows as much as we can as it really is the shop window. We’ve told James his next goal is to win his local show – the Royal Highland Show,” joked George.
The Taylors also welcome various club visits and in 2017 were one of the host herds for the World Angus Forum which attracted more than 250 visitors from across the world.
Farm Facts
Involvement: George and Nikki Taylor (who also works part-time as a teacher), their daughter Lauren and son Ryan, George’s mum and dad - Andrew and Janet, stockman, James Reid and long-serving farm worker, James O'Hara.
History: Mosshall Farm has been in the Taylor family for more than 90 years. It was run solely as a dairy herd until 2008 when it was diversified and started producing Aberdeen-Angus and Simmental cross females to start the suckler herd.
Livestock numbers: The suckler herd currently consists of around 20 females who are put in calf to a red Aberdeen-Angus bull. With 120 Aberdeen-Angus kept pedigree of which 90 will be red and the remaining will be black.
Acreage: 250 acres owned at Mosshall and a further 30 acres rented, all of which is grassland.
Farm routine: Cattle are wintered indoors from November to May mainly on straw-bedded courts with the straw all purchased in. Cows are fed home-grown silage with all silage work completed internally at the beginning of June then a second cut at the end of July and then minerals added to their ration. Calf creeps are introduced to calves around mid-September to ease the weaning/housing process. With bull calves weaning on average between 350-400kg and heifer calves 320-370kg. Bulls/cattle for shows and sales are brought out on a selection of feed from Carrs Billington.
Diversification: The family also runs a caravan park, mainly run by George’s mum, Janet, as an additional farm income. Their son Ryan also has a small pedigree Zwartble flock.
On-the-spot questions
Best investment? Red Angus Females from Denmark.
Best advice? Don’t be afraid to try something different.
Biggest achievement? Promoting red Aberdeen-Angus throughout the UK.
Where do you see yourself in 2023? Hopefully, we will continue to widen our customer base and continue to promote the benefits that red Aberdeen-Angus have for our buyers.
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