UNITED KINGDOM-SALERS CATTLE SOCIETY.
CORNISH farm manager Arthur Broom has taken over as chairman of the Salers Cattle Society.
Farm manager for the Caerhays Estate at Caerhays Barton, near St Austell, Mr Broom has been involved with Salers since the breed was introduced to the 700-acre farm in 1989.
The farm now has about 70 pure Salers breeding cows plus 15 commercial beef suckler cows. Apart from breeding pure, he is putting 20 cows to a Charolais – a beef cross he said sells extremely well.
Owned by the Williams family, the estate also runs 500 Dorset sheep and grows 90 acres of cereals.
Mr Broom explained: "We were attracted to Salers because they were something different.
"At the time there was only one other pedigree Salers herd in Cornwall. Other major beef breeds were well established and we felt that, in having something new, we would have something good to sell when, hopefully, the breed took off.
"It seems that our hopes are being fulfilled. The breed has started to really make its mark and has become widespread in this country. This year our society is hosting an international gathering of Salers breeders. The society has also helped export cattle back to the breed’s home country, France, and elsewhere on the continent.
"I feel that the Salers Cattle Society is now up and coming and that farmers are realising the potential of the Salers breed, both as a pure-bred animal and as a terminal beef sire for both beef and dairy cattle because of its ease of calving."
Introduced to the UK in 1984, Salers cattle originate in the southern half of the Massif Central in the Avergne region.
Its native region has a variable climate, and though higher, conditions are similar to the Lake District and the uplands of Scotland and Wales. The Salers is one of the oldest breeds in the world. The modern beef breed is the product of an ongoing improvement programme and is noted for its ease of management and foraging ability.
