Ben Harman is chairman of the British Cattle Breeders Club. He comes from Charolais royalty.

His grandfather, Tony Harman, was an early importer of the breed. In his book Seventy Summers, he wrote about the staunch opposition of British pedigree cattle breeders, who were at that time enjoying international demand for Shorthorn, Hereford and Aberdeen-Angus bulls, to the initial importation of the Charolais 60 years ago.

Their objectives were overcome to the lasting benefit of our beef industry and other continental breeds soon followed. Ben recently wrote an article headlined ‘Would it be hypocritical to continue judging?’

After judging the Charolais at Devon Show, Ben retired from judging. He explained how, at Devon, he had placed the animals in a traditional way based on fleshing, structural correctness and eye appeal, as he had done many times previously. This, he knew, was endorsing standards set decades ago which had resulted in no genetic progress.

This is in stark contrast to the dairy, pig and poultry industries, where genetic gains over the same period had been massive due to performance recording and objective selection. He recognised the glamour and social aspects of showing, and the connection agricultural shows have with the general public, but now feels uneasy about judging when his own breeding policy is data driven.

The conflict between the show ring and commercial production is hardly new. Forty-two years ago, one of the greatest cattle breeders I ever met, Martin Jorgensen, from South Dakota, wrote in his sale catalogue: “We didn’t try to get performance by selecting for height and length, we selected for performance for 25 years.

“We didn’t try to get fertility by selecting trim heads and necks. We culled all the cows that didn’t calve regularly in a short season for 25 years. We didn’t try to win Angus Sire Evaluation. We had been doing exactly what sire evaluation is for 25 years.

“Our criterion for describing good cattle is that they calve regularly on time and transmit fast growth to commercial market weight. We believe that form follows function. Our real enjoyment is seeing our long-term customers repeatedly selling their calves for premium prices.”

I, too, have retired (actually have been retired as few ask me now) from judging. Although our own livestock have been recorded for half a century, I never felt any conflict when asked to judge. I recognised the objectives of those showing and tried to place their animals as they would expect.

If the show preceded a sale, my placings would be judged by how they matched the prices the animals made. I assumed that the highest prices would be paid by pedigree breeders with future show and sale ring success their driver, so fashion had to be a factor in my decisions.

Of the several off-farm visits I have made in the past month, the one which aligned most closely with my thoughts was the SAC Big Beef Roadshow at Knockenjig, near Sanquhar. Silage was under way and dark patches and deep ruts in the pasture showed the result of recent endless rain. Cattle had only gone to grass at the end of May.

Michael Walker has built a large suckler herd using, in addition to traditional methods of selection, the most up-to-date technology. The base of the herd is the Angus with input from the Hereford and the Simmental. The mature cows are mated with the Charolais. After an extensive AI programme, Angus and Charolais bulls, most of them home-bred, clean up.

All the bulls are weighed, scanned and trialled for feed efficiency using Vytelle (formerly Growsafe) technology. Cross-bred heifers are also are trialled for feed efficiency and various feed additives, which claim to reduce methane emissions, have been tested.

Michael reckoned that these still need some further development. All calves except those required for breeding are sold either privately or at auction.

The whole operation is the best possible advertisement for objective selection in reducing feed costs and anticipating future labour strictures. It should be mentioned that these targets are being met, in contrast to currently touted simplistic panaceas, with no loss of output. The herd, already large, is scheduled for expansion and demonstrates that, at this time when suckler cows are going off, profits are still possible.

As previously mentioned, Ben Harman wrote that performance recording hasn’t gained the same traction with beef as it had in other sectors. It is noticeable that herd profiles in The Scottish Farmer before national bull sales generally emphasise previous show winners and high sellers. Often vendors mention that they look at figures but consider them of secondary importance.

This contrasts with articles about dairy farms which stress technology, nutrition and milk yield. It also contrasts with articles and adverts in North American beef magazines, which publish the EBVs of any animals pictured. This recognises that fertility, calving ease, milk and fast growth to market weight are the factors which keep commercial ranchers in business.

Two pick-ups sit outside my house. The Ford Ranger is two years old and the Studebaker is 69. Both look similar. To many, the Studebaker looks more, attractive. Would I use it as our main farm vehicle. Well, er, no! Its beautiful V8 engine, all 5.3 litres, uses a gallon every 16 miles while the Ranger gets double that.

The latter’s engine is much smaller but six decades of development give it much more power. The Studebaker’s lack of power brakes and power steering demand both hands on the wheel and considerable care going round corners. In short, despite the fact that the Studebaker was far ahead of contemporary Land Rovers and Jeeps in 1955, it has been eclipsed by 69 years of progress.

In an analogy with the beef industry, some will always remain convinced that the visual appraisal of expertly prepared cattle will tell them all they need to know.

To others, it is obvious that there have been seismic advances in genetic evaluation and pedigree breeders today have an arsenal of tools to drive up profits as never before in history.