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The
History of Rawburn by John Elliot
The
Rawburn Aberdeen Angus herd evolved around 50 years ago from cattle
bred in the Cape Wrath herd on the farthest North Westerly tip of
the British mainland.
The Cape Wrath herd was started in 1913 by John Elliot, my Great
Grandfather and his sons, Tom, John my Grandfather, Andrew and Walter.
My Father, also John, used their best bulls in his herd of registered
Aberdeen Angus and crossbred cows at Rawburn near Duns in the Scottish
Borders. These produced calves for sale at the local auction. The
family objective almost a century ago of providing high performance,
sale topping cattle remains unchanged today at Roxburgh Mains, Kelso
in the hands of the fourth and fifth John Elliot.
A MAJOR CHANGE – CROSSBRED TO PUREBRED
Several
of the cross bred steer calves sold for huge prices and were subsequently
successful in the leading primestock shows in the country. On three
occasions during the 1970s the highest priced steer calf in the
United Kingdom was bred in the Rawburn Herd. Extensive use of Charolais
bulls, along with Angus and Shorthorn, which was the only profitable
way at the time, led to a deterioration in the quality of the crossbred
cows. To remedy matters, a number of registered Aberdeen Angus females
were bought for crossing with the Shorthorn. Sometimes a better
female would be bred pure. At this time two significant heifers
entered the herd. Magnet Princess of Tangier, daughter of a cow
from the first importation of cattle from Canada into the UK, and
Southolm Duchess 66N, top priced heifer at the Southolm sale in
1982, proved exceptional breeders. Many descendants of both remain
in the herd today. Two sons of Duchess were Reserve Supreme Champions
at Perth Bull Sales. Another was top priced bull and a fourth Junior
Champion.
PERFORMANCE RECORDING STARTS
In
the 1980s Aberdeen Angus bulls did not enjoy the high prices they
do today so the decision was taken to market the bulls privately
as soon as they finished our on farm performance test. Every year
since its inception more bulls from our herd have been included
in the, Signet initially and ABRI latterly, list of top hundred
bulls in the UK rated on performance than from any other herd. This
is hardly surprising as we have not only weight recorded since the
early 1980s and ultrasonically scanned since the technology became
available, but have during this period sought out and used the highest
performing bulls in the breed, wherever in the world they were,
through purchase, A.I and E.T. At this time the bulls Scotch Cap,
Rito 2100 GDAR and Nichols Landmark L56 made a major contribution
to the herd. The most successful stock bulls during this period
were Willabar Beacon, sired by Landmark, Nightingale Panther, sired
by Rito 2100 and Elgar of the Moss, by Scotch Cap out of the great
cow GT Evergreen 312.
RAWBURN TRANSFORMER – A LANDMARK
A
significant breakthrough occurred in 1997 when Rawburn Transformer
was born. Sired by Hoff Great Western SC456 and out of Willabar
Tilda 7B, a daughter of GT Maximum, Transformer broke every record
as a yearling and recorded the previously unheard of Signet Beef
Value of 55. His offspring, both in our own and other herds, comprehensively
outperformed those of any other bull through the first decade of
the millennium. In 2001 one third of the top hundred bulls in the
UK, including the entire top ten, ranked on performance, were sired
by him. In 2012, fifteen years after his birth, Transformer still
remains a yardstick.
HERD EXPANSION
In
2004 the entire Huxton herd was purchased from our friend the late
Frederick Tait. All animals were either bred in the Rawburn herd
and had been sold to Huxton in 1996 or their offspring. They have
made a notable contribution both physically and financially. The
heifer Huxton Blackbird B81 was sold for 12,000 guineas to Bernard
Mairs at ‘The Best of Blacks in The Borders’ sale 2004.
She was supreme champion at The Royal Ulster Show in 2005.
HERD MANAGEMENT – NEW GENETICS & SALES RECORDS
Herd
management remains as commercially realistic as it always has been.
Heifers calve at two years of age. Bulls are reared in large contemporary
groups on, if possible, feed grown on the farm. No animal receives
preferential treatment during the performance recording period.
Heifers and cows have been sold to a top of 16,000 guineas, a breed
record at the time, for Rawburn Lady Rush A113 at ‘The Best
of Blacks in The Borders’ sale. More recently females have
sold at Perth Bull Sales to 14,000 guineas.
All
bulls without exception are made available for sale at the conclusion
of our own farm performance test. All performance statistics and
EBVs are available for inspection and each bull is pre-priced based
on genetics, its own performance and eye appeal. Occasionally, if
a bull has not been sold he will be taken to Perth Bull Sale. In
2011 Rawburn Justice Eric J33 made the third top price of 15,000
guineas to Ballavitchell. At the same sale the Supreme Champion,
Idvies Jarvis Eric and the Reserve Supreme Champion, Ballathie Consort
were sired by Rawburn Rommel and Rawburn Elmo respectively. Jarvis
Eric topped the sale at 20,000 guineas. At Perth Bull Sale in 2010,
five of the top priced bulls, including the 28,000 guineas high
seller Galawater Bentley H495, were by Rawburn Sires.
At the Perth Bull Sales in October 2011 the highest priced animal,
male or female, was Kitewood Ellen Erica J77, sired by Rawburn Lord
Ross C216 and out of Rawburn Ellen Erica D300, at 14,000 guineas.
The second highest priced animal at 12,000 guineas was Rawburn Ella
J996.
GENETIC INPUT
Three
times in the past decade the top priced bull at Perth Bull Sales
was purchased for the Rawburn herd; the last, Lockerley Legolas
G850, in partnership with Idvies. Noted home bred bulls used in
the herd have been Rawburn Lord Ross C216, Rawburn Randolph F555
and Rawburn Enigma G653. Our sires in 2012 are Lockerley Legolas
G850, Rawburn Elysium F547, Rawburn Double O Seven J985, Rawburn
Elmer J921 and Oakchurch Field Marshall K143.
Over
the past two decades Embryo Transfer has been extensively practised.
Notable cows from North America which have contributed to the genetics
of the Rawburn herd include Hoff Ebony SC3330-991, Cudlobe Ellen
Erica 46D, Prairielane Rosebud 8116 011, Willabar Rosebud 250G and
Royal Eston Anne 23J. Bulls used on these and other cows for ET
include SAV Net Worth, KMK Alliance, Mytty in Focus, GAR Gridmaker,
Quaker Hill Objective, Hoff Great Western, Greens Premium, GH Cover
Boy, OGL Battlecry, Harb Pendleton, Bush’s Strut, BJ’s
Enforcer, Sydgen Turbo, Nichols Quiet Lad and, most of all, Hoff
Limited Edition. A recent sire to be used is CCL Dateline 36R, a
bull we considered to be the best we had seen in Western Canada
when visiting the World Angus Forum in 2010.
In
2012 we flushed the Canadian cows Prairie Lane Rosebud 8109, Prairie
Lane 5057 Estelle 7114 and Cottage Creek Tyra 911J and also the
American cow Hoff Blackbird 994 5218.
PERFORMANCE
The
herd continues to dominate ABRI Breedplan in the UK. At January
2012, if all ages of cattle in the entire country are ranked for
Terminal Sire Index, 12 out of the top 15 males were bred in the
Rawburn herd and 14 out of the top 15 females. Rawburn Dublin K218
has the top ranking for Terminal Sire Index of 67 and also for Self
Replacing Index of 81. Rawburn Elsie K228 is the highest ranked
female with a TSI of 60 and a SRI of 80. Both are sired by Rawburn
El Torro H774, now owned by Messrs Pottinger, Isauld Aberdeen Angus.
About
50 bulls are sold every year. The high percentage of repeat buyers
indicates that our cattle are performing well; not only at home
but wherever they go.
THE
SHOWRING
While
we rarely show ourselves it is gratifying to see that our clients
have, in recent years, been doing well in both local and national
shows. Rawburn bulls have sired the Supreme Champions at the UK
National Show in 2009, the Great Yorkshire Show in 2010 and the
Royal Welsh Show both in 2010 and 2011. They also sired the Champion
Male and the Champion Female at the National Winter Show in 2010
and both Senior and Junior Female Champions at The Black Beauty
Bonanza 2009. In 2011 Rawburn Rock Solid was in the Aberdeen Angus
team that won the prestigious Burke Trophy.
THE FUTURE
It
has been our policy to collect and store embryos from our very best
cows to enable us to restart the herd should it be taken out with
Foot and Mouth Disease. The cows flushed recently includes Elegy
B151, Duchess F504, Ellen Erica D318 and Elsie D328 in 2009; Duchess
of Windsor 3rd, Ellen Erica D298, Lady Ross and Rosebud E425 in
2010. In 2011 we flushed Ellen Erica E405, Mosston Muir Eline H205
and the Danish cow ML Felicia Dateline 755. Hopefully these embryos
will never be needed.
Our overall farming policy has shifted over two decades from 60%
grain production and 40% pasture to 60% grass and 40% grain as nothing
is paying us like the Aberdeen Angus cattle. In an era of high health
schemes and, at the same time, fearsome health threats, seed stock
selection using physical records, DNA technology and traditional
phenotypic appraisal makes us feel confident as never before in
the direction our cattle are moving.
Thank you for visiting our website. Even better, visit us at Roxburgh
Mains, Kelso in the beautiful and historic Scottish Borders. Please
contact us at rawburn@aol.com
or on 01573 450223. We would be delighted to hear from you.
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