Toplines and Tales

110 - Characters in Livestock - Major David Walter

Not just for the Charolais purists, we end the year with probably my most enjoyable interview to date with one of life’s really great characters, (Major) David Walter. Although his family has been at Balthayock for a few hundred years, we hear about his fascinating younger days in the forces and the city, including playing polo with our current King. Although his very first cow got torpedoed by some Italians, David speaks of an early passion for the Charolais breed and buying a bull at auction for a colossal sum at the time! Today the Balthayock herd is not only one of the oldest in UK but, producing 40+ top sale bulls per year, undeniably one of the best.

109 - Christmas Special

This week along with a few mates, Scott, Derek and Andrew, all of whom are fellow commentators at the Royal Highland Show, we roll out the Christmas drink and have a laugh, as well as some serious chat. We start by mentioning a few great folks that the industry has lost over the past year. When we get to big Doddie it opens up a discussion about the fact that many great rugby players were and are farmers. A random chat about using crossbred rams leaves us divided although the concept Scott raises of producing a Wagyu type lamb does have its merits. We then dissect some farm diversification schemes until that chat morphs into other hilarity, and much editing! .

108 - Characters in Livestock - PJ Budler

My guest PJ Budler has judged a staggering 81 breeds of cattle in 43 different countries! Based in Texas and now working as a consultant for an embryo company, we start by discussing the merits of cloning. His time working in Scotland gave him an understanding that breeds need to be adapted to their surroundings to produce effective genetics. We move on the ‘Champion of The World’ beef competition which he started nearly a decade and now involves animals from 93 countries. Then we get into a quite controversial area of EPDs versus visual assessment in this highly enjoyable interview with one of the worlds most knowledgeable cattlemen.   

107 - Characters in Livestock - Eustace Burke

This week we cross to Southern Ireland to speak with Angus breeder Eustace Burke.  From humble beginnings we hear how Eustace and his father built up the highly successful Clonthead herd of Angus including the all-Ireland medium herd competition. We go on to his role as president of the Irish Aberdeen Angus Association and their post-brexit role as a HQ for a number of breeds in Europe as well the function of The Government funded Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) database which aims to record data ‘from conception to fork’ through genomic evaluation!

106 - Characters in Livestock - Neil and Sally Lloyd

While we are in the closing stages of the fatstock show season we chat to freelance stockman, breeder and top judge, Neil Lloyd and his wife Sally. We hear about his early days being educated into the livestock showing business through pigs, his successes with all breeds of cattle and that infamous wedding in the main ring at Smithfield Show in London. A couple always striving for perfection, the conversation includes the variation of fatstock cattle across the regions and the family's progress with Welsh Black cattle and Blue Texel sheep.

105 - Characters in Livestock - David Walker

This week’s character, David Walker from Galcantray, needs no introduction. From bringing out top Suffolk sheep and Angus cattle, the big man is always amongst the craic when it comes to showtime. We chat through his successes and then move on to his more recent passion, Clydesdale horses, where Galcantray are now really making their mark.

104 - Live from Agriscot

This week I set up camp on HARBRO's tradestand at Agriscot in Edinburgh, the UK’s largest farming trade show, and chatted to a number of invited guests including Mairi Gougeon, Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Tourism, Sarah Miller, CEO of Quality Meat Scotland (QMS), some of the prestigious finalists of Scotland’s farming awards as well as other high profile forward thinking farmers at the cutting edge of the UK livestock industry.

103 - Agriscot Beef Farmer of the Year Awards

This week take a closer look at the highly interesting commercial side of the British Livestock world by profiling the shortlist contenders for the Agriscot Beef Farmer of the Year Awards. Firstly we take a look at James Young’s large scale beef operation in Ayrshire, then Harry Brown’s diversification scheme in Aberdeenshire and finally Ian Richardson’s suckled calf outfit in the Borders.

102 - Characters in Livestock - Roley Fraser

After only a few weeks since his death, I hope the family of Roley Fraser won’t mind me sharing what I hold as one of my dearest possessions, an edited interview with him in 2013. One of the World's top auctioneers, Roley was such a wise man with phases such as ‘After the 1st war, if you had pretentions of being landed gentry you had a herd of shorthorns, but after the 2nd war you had a herd of Angus,’ and ‘by the late 80s the Angus got very peculiar, they looked very big sideways on but you could hardly see them when they walked away from you!’
I will admit that much of my own knowledge of the Angus breed came from this very conversation, and am privileged to have it on record.

101 - Characters in Livestock - Bernard Llewellyn

Such an entertaining character, Bernard Lewellyn is a great horseman, ex jockey, and cousin of a Grand National winner, a sheep-shearer, TV presenter, committee man and we hear about inheriting and running a huge castle as a tourist attraction, with the addition of a few rare breed stock. From there a love of the Longhorn cattle took Bernard to the very top of that breed and we hear of its successes before going on to talk about his involvement in the European government with this extremely wise Welshman.