Seasons greetings from Wessex Lowlines

Lowlines head to Essex

A little group of lowlines have headed off to their new home in Essex. Hope they settle in well and look forward to hearing how they get on... And seeing them in a show ring soon !

Soggy update

Well it's been a very wet and mucky time but the lowlines are happy outside whatever the weather. We have been busy with the day to day work plus have done another embryo flush. So far so good with our efforts this year with *touch wood* everything in calf at the moment so fingers crossed things proceed smoothly. Some dry weather would be nice. We are on quick draining chalk and even we are just waterlogged now !

more open day pictures

viewing the cows and calves

and the in calf heifers

Succesful, Informative open day

Well the sun shone and we couldnt have had a better day for the first Wessex Lowlines Open Day !
There was a very good turn out with some visitors travelling for several hours, all with an interest in the Lowline breed, seeing the cattle and finding out more about them.

Thank you to all who attended, I hope we answered all your questions and if we can be of any further assistance please dont hesitate to get in touch.

Display of this years results in our new office !

"Is this my best side?"

 

Open day

Preparations are under way for our open day this Sunday, fingers crossed for a nice dry day!
Come along and see the cattle and learn more about the breed.

SHOW SEASON OVER - OPEN DAY PREPARATIONS UNDERWAY

So the showing season is over for the year which is a bit of relief as we have done so much travelling and had many early mornings however I think we have been succesful in spreading the word about Lowlines. The main point was always to get the breed known about and seen by as many people as possible which I think we have accomplished along with the bonus of a nice collection of rosettes and a few pieces of silverware!!

We are very pleased with how Lowlines have been received, we have been up against many different breeds - an "any other breed" class is always very difficult as you cant compare like for like. We have been in with Murray Greys, Speckled Park, Longhorns, Galloways, welsh black, south devons and even modern day angus and commercial cattle at some of the shows and most of the judges havent seen Lowlines before so the fact that we have had so much success  really shows what great cattle they are.

We have received an awful lot of interest and are now busy making plans for our open day on the 14th October. The advert has been in the Small Holding magazine alongside our article and also in the Farmers Guardian and these again are prompting lots of enquiries.

Fingers crossed we have a dry clear day for it , please come along and see the cattle, find out more and there may even be a tea or coffee thrown in !!

Westmorland Show results

After the long long drive we managed to take home a first for the bull, second for the cow and reserve champion also went  to our bull. Class's again being any other beef breed.

No photos from Westmorland Im afraid as I was busy in the ring !

Westmorland show tomorrow !

A long old drive from Dorset to Cumbria for Westmorland show- the biggest one day show in the country

Frome Show

A wothwhile trip to Frome today - winning 5 first places, 2 seconds and a third and then our bull taking the overall championship !!
First with Bull
First and Second with Junior bulls
First & third with heifers
First with Calf
First with pairs
Second with cow

Frome is the first show to actually put specific Lowline class's on so hopefully more will follow suit and we can get more people out andabout showing Lowlines !

Heifer Class

Pairs

cow & calf class

winning calf class

 

the winning heifer

junior bulls

 

More show success

A great start to Dorset show this morning with Conker the bull taking first prize in the bull class  we then got a second with a cow and calf  and fourth in the pairs class. Also lots of interest and people enquiring about the breed

Tomorrow we have groups and young handler class's

Also today we got a copy of the country smallholding magazine in which you will find a great article telling you about our Lowline project - grab a copy and have a read !!

Date for the Diary - OPEN DAY 14th October !!

Come along to Stubhampton between 10am and 3pm and see the cattle up close and we will be available to answer any questions and tell you all about the fantastic little breed - look out for the adverts in the farmers guardian and country smallholders magazine - in which you will also see an article all about Lowlines in the october issue out in september.

Frome show 8th September

And after Dorset show the following weekend we will be at Frome show on saturday the 8th September

Dorset Show

Come along and see Wessex Lowlines at the Dorset Show at Dorchester this weekend, we will be in the ring showing on saturday and sunday and available in the cattle lines for further information and to answer any questions you may have. Fingers crossed we can add to our rosette collection...

Ellingham show success!

Wessex lowlines were at Ellingham show today and had great success achieving 2nd place with the cow and calf up against such as Simmental, white park and red poll cattle. Our bull then went on to win the bull class beating a modern day Angus  and then winning the overall beef championship. Absolutely great result. To top the day Logan then won the young handlers class!!

David, Logan & the trophy haul !!

In the Grand Parade

photography session

Been taking advantage of the sunshine to get some shots for a forthcoming article to be featured in Country Smallholding magazine, keep an eye out for the october issue - will be on sale in september.

another healthy arrival

A bull calf arrived this morning , not doing bad after the 3 heifers...

and another makes 3.....

Aw man, could you not have got me a smaller earring!!

Another calf born today and yet another heifer ! Now if we could just get the same sort of luck with the weather so we could  get some grass cut ......

Productive embryo flush

A long and busy day yesterday, We had a productive embryo flush  and they are now residing in their surrogate mothers where we hope they will stay for oooh 8 and a half  months .

Embryo programmes are not for the faint hearted, there is a lot of time, money and worry involved - fingers crossed for succesful pregnancies.

Conker the bull is now very happy outside with the girls

Another new arrival

We had another little heifer calf born on saturday afternoon , as with all previous arrivals the cow required no intervention and is a wonderful mother. Thank goodness the sun has come out today to give our 2 new calves a chance to dry out after the nonstop rain we have had recently.

New arrival at Wessex Lowlines

We had a calf born early this morning,  luckily another heifer calf ! bright eyed & bushy tailed, as I type I can see it through  the window and its galloping around the field as lively as you like. A key bonus of the breed - easy calving , the cow has plenty of milk and very good mothering instinct yet no worries with temperament. The calf was checked over and tagged within 2 hours of birth and while mum kept a close eye on what was going on there is no sign of aggression.

Small holders show - Ardingly

friday night - all set up and ready for the show opening saturday morning

early saturday morning and the people start arriving

lots of interest in the Lowlines

David extolling the virtues of Lowlines

Lots of people learning about lowlines

Just home after a weekend at the smallholders show, lots of people now know all about Australian Lowlines.  We met some lovely people and  had lots of interest in this great breed - people can certainly see their potential. Conker the Bull, Gracie the cow and her calf (still to be named!) are old pro's at showing themselves off now and behaved impeccably. They certainly show off the wonderful temperament and good looks that this breed has.

Small holders show - Ardingly

Wessex Lowlines will be at the Small holders show this weekend 30th June & 1st July

Come along and find out more about this great little breed of cattle and how they could work for you!

Looks like it will be a wet journey there today but fingers crossed the weather picks up for the morning

Stafford Show pictures

cow & calf class

Heifer class

Heifer takes 3rd

C'mon Conker lets me & you go for a little walk...

tiring this showing...

2 smart boys!

Well done Conker ! Very proud

Cow & calf class