The high finishing quality of the Shorthorn has cemented its status at Edinvale where Jock Gibson and his wife, Fiona, have more than 200 cattle comprising of Beef Shorthorns and Highlanders, alongside a small flock of Herdwick sheep.
Acquired in 1974 by his father and grandparents, Edinvale Farm is now operated by Jock and Fiona who aim to bring the Shorthorn to the forefront.
The farm was originally home to the pedigree Cullerne Highland cattle fold, with Beef Shorthorns introduced in the mid-2000s to improve the fleshing ability, eating quality, and finishing speed of the cattle.
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In 1986, the Gibson family purchased Macbeth’s, a butcher’s shop in nearby Forres to make better use of the surplus beef cattle that weren’t making the grade at the market. This new venture is now the farm’s main source of income with all the cattle being reared either as replacement females or for the butcher’s shop.
“Everything we do here has the consumer in mind. Our customers want assurance that the animals are local, well reared, and of the highest quality,” said Jock, explaining that the Highlanders were easy to market but despite their high suckling level they were slow to finish. Introducing Shorthorns into the mix with their faster growth rate and limited inputs helped to keep a consistent supply of products to the butcher’s shop.
“I am not looking for over-defined hindquarters – I need something more even and with the Shorthorns being of a good size and not over-pronounced they have provided a happy medium.”
The cattle at Edinvale are fed grass and forage using a rotational grazing system implemented in 2018, with the farm now able to be split into a maximum of 27 paddocks. All the beef produced is Pasture for Life certified. Jock also no longer uses fertiliser after taking it out of the system last year.
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“We’re not producing any less grass than before and now we don’t have to deal with an unnecessary fertiliser bill. It’s also a big carbon cost that we just don’t need.”
Jock has also set himself a target for the farm business to be as close to carbon neutral as possible by 2030. He does regular carbon audits to understand what processes impact emissions and what can be done to improve them. They have already planted 1400 trees and the farm is now 10% trees and hedgerows which he hopes will fully offset the fuel and electricity used by the business.
“We are a business that’s in front of the consumer and being environmentally responsible helps with the appeal of our product. We want to rectify the image that farming isn’t sustainable and make sure we are trying our best to do our bit.”
Currently, the cattle are split with one-third being Highlanders and two-thirds Shorthorn. Edinvale stopped breeding pedigree cattle in 2011 and now maintains Highlanders to provide replacement breeding heifers. The Shorthorns are favoured because of their resilience and ability to finish well within 30 months on grass and forage.
Highland heifers go to the bull at three years but the Shorthorns are served at 24 months. They have a seven-week mating period to calve mid-February inside. All breeding females are wintered outside up until calving to reduce the risk of large calves causing calving issues.
“We are not here to produce big calves – we want to focus on ease of calving by having cows that maintain their weight over the winter.”
This year’s scanning percentage at Edinvale was 95% with heifers failing to hold to the bull sold through the butchers or going direct into the cull market. Any cow that has a bad calving is also culled. Calves are weaned at 170 days but Jock is looking to push it to 200.
“Highlanders sit at 35% of weaned body weight and the Shorthorns at 40%. I think we could delay weaning by another 30 days or so to get more positive results.”
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Jock has set up a weigh crate with an attached water trough that allows the calves to be independently weighed whenever they go for a drink. EID panels collect the daily weight results of each calf which provides another way to record performance.
When it comes to buying potential stock bulls Jock prefers to purchase privately
“I like to see how bulls do in their natural habitat away from the sale ring. I am looking for animals that will thrive in our system and I’ve found the best way for me is buying privately. The last three bulls I bought were private sales.” These included a Highland from Emma Paterson’s Benmore fold and two Beef Shorthorns from John Scott, Fearn Farm, Tain.
“The animal you bring out for the show ring isn’t the animal you produce for the butcher’s shop.”
With their Macbeth’s butcher’s shop being the main driver in the business, Jock is able to slaughter all his animals at John M Munro’s abattoir in Dingwall.
“It’s the only part of the process that isn’t within our control, but I have no desire to build an abattoir on the farm. We are lucky that we have a couple of abattoirs nearby that do private kills.”
Jock’s system means he can provide the butcher’s shop with an animal a week year-round with 70% of products going to the foodservice industry such as restaurants and hotels and the rest sold online or in the shop in Forres. The quality speaks for itself as Macbeth’s has won several Great Taste Awards for its meat produce since 2009.
“We don’t sell beef, we sell a story, and if it means we have a loyal customer base that’s all you can ask for, whether they come once a week or once a year.”
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During the pandemic, Fiona also set about starting a small honesty shop in a shed on the farm. It was initially just to sell milk, meat, and Fiona’s baking, but it has developed into a showcase of local produce and gifts such as candles and soap.
“The idea is you should be able to buy everything in there to make an evening meal. We wanted something that would draw people to their local producers and support these independent businesses. Items all have a price but being a small shed no one manages it, so it runs on an honesty system which has worked well so far.”
Jock and Fiona would like to branch out more into tourism and they currently run farm tours for educational and marketing purposes.
“Depending on future legislation we’d quite like to do holiday lets and maybe look at developing a farm shop with vending machines and a full kitchen. We want to create an accessible environment for agritourism with a focus on enhancing an individual’s wellbeing.”
Jock is now looking to increase the herd at Edinvale by 10-20% but still maintain the split of two-thirds to one-third of Beef Shorthorns to Highlander.
“We still have a dozen pure Highlanders which will remain important, but increasingly the focus will steer towards Shorthorn genetics. There will always be cattle here at Edinvale as long as it’s viable and I believe the Shorthorn is really the way forward.
“The livestock are here for an awesome time but not always a long time. It’s about having resilient animals that can thrive in this system with little input and high-quality results, and the Beef Shorthorn really does that.”
Farm Facts
Farm size: 90 acres at Edinvale with 250 acres in seasonal holdings and a 50-acre tenancy on the other side of the village.
Number of stock: 200 cows, 3 bulls, and a micro flock of 100 sheep.
Scanning percentage: 95%
Other enterprises: Macbeth’s Butcher in Forres, Wee Shed honesty shop, Agricultural contractor
Who’s all involved: Jock, Fiona, and their three children Aila, Tilly, and Rory, Full-time stockman Johnny and part-time general farm worker Malcolm
On the Spot
Best investment: Set of weigh bars bought with the money from the Beef Efficiency Scheme
Something you would change looking back: The level of chemical-based products we needed to buy in
Best piece of advice: Learn from the mistakes of others you don’t live long enough to make them all yourself.
Something you can’t live without: Polywire
Where do you see yourself in 10 years: Still here but hopefully as a mentor to the next generation (related or otherwise) champing at the bit to let rip!
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