The Shetland Cattle Herd Book Society are setting up a semen bank so that any member who does not want to keep a bull or live near where a bull is located can get their cows in calf without too much bother. This will be executed by Pete Sherwen, Scawfell Genetics, Gosfirth, Cumbria.

It was a breezy day back in 1987 at Bertie and Toma Moar’s croft at Murrister, Bridge of Walls, Shetland when semen was collected by Bertie’s brother, Vet Edwin Moar. The bulls were Waterloo Charlie bred by Eleanor Hall of Walls and Trondra Thorgeir bred by Tammy Isbister. A cow in heat was transported to Murrister, the Vet was summoned and a handful of local Shetland Cattle Breeders gathered to help.

At this point in history the Shetland breed, which has lived in the islands alongside man for at least 4000 years was in danger of disappearing completely. Another victim of the drive towards the production of bigger livestock whatever the circumstances, the Shetland cow was an example of an animal designed partly by man, but mostly created by its homeland, Shetland.

Some semen from this collection still persists, but in recent years stocks available to crofters have dwindled.Since the dark days of the 1980’s when Shetland had less than 30 registered cows, numbers have grown to 200 plus in the islands. The New Foundation Herd Book was established in 1981 and has been maintained by the Shetland Cattle Herd Book Society ever since. The membership of the SCHBS has spread far and wide with many new enthusiasts keeping herds throughout Britain and Ireland.

Sometimes walking a rocky road and with slim resources Shetland crofters have endeavoured to keep promoting the classic traits of the cattle.

Now in 2016 the Shetland Cattle Herd Book Society is setting out to create a new semen bank based on the latest genetic analysis. 6 bulls from throughout the isles will provide a basis for this bank. This will be supplemented by semen from 4 bulls owned by Dr Paddy Zacharia. Her generosity and determination is a tremendous asset to the breed and greatly appreciated by her many friends in the isles.

The operation at the Shetland Marts has to be done early in the morning and then the semen has to be in the mail in the afternoon, to reach Devon first thing the next morning for processing. Processing is started in Shetland, but completed in Devon. So if the mail plane doesn't fly for some reason (weather), the semen is wasted and more will have to be collected from the bulls the next day.

The semen collection and storage will be done by Pete Sherwen of Scawfell Genetics, Gosforth, Cumbria. Pete was involved in helping Dr Zacharia in her successful project to export embryos to her farm in Australia. This resulted in perfectly healthy pure Shetland calves now bouncing around down-under.

Enquiries for purchase of straws can be made to the SCHBS. It is hoped that this new resource for cattle breeders will prove popular with the many small herds who find difficulty in keeping a bull of their own.