A farming family from Redruth has been honoured with a national award for its cattle.

The Penhalveor herd, owned by Ashley and Hilary Wood of Redruth in Cornwall, has been recognised as the Most Improved Herd of Stabiliser cattle in England for 2014.

The award is presented by the EBLEX Beef Better Returns Programme to the performance-recorded herd that shows the greatest genetic gain for commercial characteristics over a 12-month period. There is a separate award for each of ten UK breeds.

Ashley and Hilary bought Penhalveor Farm in 1977, following a move from London.

The farm consists of 60 acres of permanent grassland at approximately 500 feet above sea level. Initially, the principal enterprise was a store cattle finishing system, which gradually led to the establishment of a suckler herd comprising several continental-cross varieties.

With a focus on breeding all their own replacements, the Penhalveor herd has been closed since 1994. Biosecurity and genetic diversity has been a priority and therefore artificial insemination has been used extensively, especially in the spring calving portion of the herd.

As well as allowing access to new, high quality genetics, AI has helped the herd maintain a tight nine-week calving period. No cow is inseminated more than three times, with the majority holding to first service; a factor attributed largely to the relaxed nature of cattle handling and familiarity of animals with the system.

Following the trial of many continental sires on the farm, the Simmental breed was selected in order to develop a herd with good growth rates, mothering ability, milkiness and temperament.

Aberdeen Angus semen was used on the Simmental cows to produce 18-month beef, with cattle being finished at 580-600Kgs. This cut costs as the expenditure of housing for a second winter was avoided. However, selection for both beef finishing qualities and maternal attributes proved challenging.

It was at this crossroads between carcase traits and maternal traits that the Woods were impressed by an article in the farming press on Richard Fuller’s trip to the Leachman Ranch in Montana, USA, and his plans to import the Stabiliser breed into the UK.

The Stabiliser concept suited the breeding objectives of Penhalveor Farm and the Woods contacted Richard in order to source some Stabiliser semen, with the first straws arriving on farm in 2002.

Since then they have always used Stabiliser semen and are pleased with the consistency of the progeny. The Stabiliser, a breed requiring low inputs, is well suited to Penhalveor’s permanent grassland organic system that now is.

“The hybrid vigour of these cattle is very impressive, and they have good growth rates,” Hilary said.

“Females retained for breeding are destined for a long career in the herd; typically they develop into fertile cows that calve easily, producing vigorous calves that grow quickly. They are good mothers with a quiet temperament; they milk well and are good on their feet. These factors are a necessity to promote longevity in the herd. We prefer to select for a polled type as this reduces management costs.”

The farm started its organic conversion in 2007 and thus the size of the herd was halved to around 40 cows and followers. The finished cattle are sold deadweight with organic status.

In 2008, the Woods started performance recording, encouraged by the Stabiliser Cattle Company which is keen to monitor the genetic progress achieved in Stabiliser herds.

The Woods have always weighed their youngstock as a matter of course, so were happy to adapt their management to collect birth, 200-, 400- and 600-day weights. Since then, they have benefitted from guidance from Richard Fuller, which has assisted them to increase the base level of genetics across their herd.

The Penhalveor herd stands comfortably within the top ten per cent of the breed for Beef Value.