Devon cattle for Royal Cornwall (From South West Farmer)

Devon cattle for Royal Cornwall

12:20pm Tuesday 9th February 2010

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When Devon cattle are judged at the Royal Cornwall Show in June, there will be more interest than usual from the onlooking crowd.

Numbers with an interest in this breed will be swelled by at least 60 – and probably many more.

It’s all down to a group of breeders which has organised a tour of the UK for overseas members of the Devon cattle Breeders’ Society. The tour will spend a full day at the show (June 10, 11, 12).

Organiser Gavin Hunter, who is based in Huntingdon, is the society president and is thrilled with the numbers.

“We have got 25 coming from Brazil, and large contingents from Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

“I sent a letter out in September saying we were hoping to do it and thought we would have trouble getting a coachload together. But within two months I had 60 names with deposits paid.”

The tour has the support of the society although it is an independent event, conceived by a group of members.

Gavin, whose family has been breeding Devons for 50 years, is also acting as judge for the breed classes at the show.

He expects to see a good turnout.

“I think the visit will have an effect. We will be going to a number of farms and we hope to encourage some of those we don’t get to see to come along to the show.

“There are 50 or 60 Devon cattle entered normally and we would hope to see another 20 there.”

The visit is one of a regular series of get-togethers organised for members in different countries.

Although conditions differ widely from country to country, Gavin knows all delegates will get a lot from the visit.

“It is a big learning process. Some of the Brazilian farms will have a thousand or more cattle – far bigger than here in England but they still have a lot to learn from a visit such as this.”

Devons, he said, are easy to manage and they will do well on poor pasture.

“They are good converters of grass. We were in Australia two years ago and there had been no rain for the two previous years. There was only the odd blade of grass here and there but still they will survive in those conditions. The Devons will rough it.”

The visit is not only a learning process. It is an opportunity for business to be done. There is a brisk and valuable trade in semen sales between countries.

It is also a social occasion and besides visiting Land’s End and other local tourist spots, delegates will also go sight-seeing in Oxford and meet at the Farmers’ Club in London.

“All have their Devons back at home and all enthuse about coming for ten days to the UK to look at the various herds. We were particularly keen to show them what goes on at one of our shows and there is always a good line of Devons at the Royal Cornwall. It is a true agricultural show.”

Two Cornish farmers who will be fully involved in both the show and the tour are St Just neighbours Ivan Rowe and Geoff Thomas.

Both have been breeding Devons for 17 years and swear by the breed.

“They produce the best beef to eat without a shadow of a doubt; they are easy to manage, have a good temperament and they are a medium-sized breed that does well on low inputs,” said Geoff.

Meeting the international visitors will be a useful exercise for all concerned, said Ivan.

It will be a busy time for the two St Just men.

At the end of the first day of the show both will be setting off home to finalise preparations for the arrival of the party at both farms the next day.

One farm will be toured in the morning and one in the afternoon after lunch at the local pub.

Ivan said: “We unload them from the coach then reload them on to tractors and trailers for the tour then unload them again for lunch.”

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