The world-renowned Upsall, Britain's oldest Beef Shorthorn herd, is due to be sold at a highly-anticipated auction taking place early next month.
The countdown has started to a keynote native cattle reduction sale of pedigree Beef Shorthorns from the Upsall herd, near Thirsk, at CCM Skipton Auction Mart on 7 August.
The 55-strong headcount comprises 19 maiden heifers free from the bull from last year’s crop of calves, a trio of two-year-olds run with the bull, 16 cows with calves at foot outfits and a single 15-month-old bull.
The Upsall herd was established over 110 years ago and has for six decades been in the hands of fourth generation family member, the Hon Gerald Turton.
It continues to be managed on the 2,000 acres estate at Upsall Castle Farms by long-time Scottish stockman George McCulloch and his wife Maureen.
Over four generations the Turton family have successfully bred a cow which is easy calving, thrives on poor grazing in all weathers and which is combined with a quiet temperament.
A more recent programme of improvement has been to make the herd naturally polled, with four out of the last seven stock bulls used homozygous for the polling gene and this work remains ongoing.
The long-established cow families at Upsall are recognised by breeders worldwide and, within the last 25 years notably, Loch Awe Lysander (P) and Uppermill Recto (P) have added to this depth of breeding.
Prior to this, the search for outcrosses and original Beef Shorthorn bloodlines has led all over the world and this brought an early introduction to EBV recording prevalent in the large Beef Shorthorn communities in other countries at the time.
The Australian bull, Mandalong Super Elephant, from the 1970s, crossed well with daughters of another Australian bull, Broughton Park Thunder, and one daughter, Clipper X699, was mother to the influential Firefox of Upsall.
During the last ten years Upsall have sold bulls to arguably some of the finest Beef Shorthorn herds in the UK and Ireland.
Herd health is of paramount importance at Upsall and the entire herd is Level 1, BVD free and vaccinated, IBR free and has been Neospora Risk Level 1 for four years.
The sale comprises a solid cross-section of the principal cow families, many of which are classified, while amongst the male calves are a number of potential rising stars.
Noteworthy is Clipper X1169, sold with her Mandalong son, as is Secret X1009, with a Nelson of Upsall son which is full brother to a bull to be released in Spring 2022 by Upsall.
Sapphire X1120 sells with a promising bull calf by King David, while also expected to create considerable interest is a full sister to this bull calf which sells in the yearling heifers.
The consignment of yearling heifers is described as one of the best batches of heifers to come to the market from Upsall, the pedigree of each revealing the considered thought attached to the breeding of each generation.
Also among them is a King David daughter, X693 of Upsall, whose grand dam Urymaid of Upsall stood female supreme and national champion heifer at the 2016 Great Yorkshire Show, while the dam won the North of England Shorthorn Club Calf Show at Thirsk a year later.
Jeremy Eaton, Skipton Auction Mart’s general manager said: “The Upsall decision to reduce numbers represents an opportunity for established breeders and newcomers to the breed to secure some of the finest bloodlines available.
"There is little doubt that this draft from Upsall creates an opportunity not to be missed.”
