Breeding Stirling champions is something Elrick knows all about

In 1995, Mike and Lisa Massie were lucky enough to secure the tenancy of 128ha at Mains of Elrick in northeast Aberdeenshire, Scotland, when Mike left the family farm. Since then, they have created one of the most successful Limousin and Charolais herds in the UK. Based just nine miles from the coast as the crow flies, the highest point being 300 feet above sea level, you will find their renowned Elrick herd.

How it all started

Initially, the Elrick herd started out with 10 Limousin females, purchased at the Peasley and Crownhead dispersals.

These were followed by a small number of Charolais cows from Mike’s family farm, the famous Blelack herd. Both breeds grew organically, with careful selection, to approximately 45 head of each.

Today, Mike and Lisa run the farm along with their three daughters, who have a keen interest, but also work off-farm.

When asked about the herd’s greatest achievement to date, Mike replied: “The biggest achievement for any breeder, I believe, is selling to another pedigree herd and when people come to the farm to buy females, you know you must be doing something right.”

Limousins

Over the years, the Elrick herd has claimed numerous Limousin championships at the Stirling bull sales. Its first supreme champion at Stirling came back in 1998, with Elrick Neutron, followed by Falcon in 2012 and Inferno in 2014, who sold for 14,000gns. But arguably the herd’s biggest success to date was winning the supreme champion at Stirling for the last three consecutive years, with Roosevelt, Trooper, and Shogun, who sold for 15,000gns.

The same year as Shogun, his stablemate Saxon also took home the reserve supreme championship.

Their first Charolais championship at Stirling came back in 2017 with Elrick Malt, and in recent years they have sold Charolais bulls to 25,000gns, with multiple bulls crossing 15,000gns. On three separate occasions, Elrick has won the best group of three Charolais bulls at Stirling, from stock bulls Maerdy Gouverneur and Ballinlare Phantom.

Just recently, the herd won the title of best stock bull with Ballinlare Phantom, whilst securing the reserve overall large herd award in the Scottish and Northern Charolais club herds competition for 2024.

Cow herd

Currently the Massies run 90 pedigree cows, split evenly between Charolais and Limousin. Low-maintenance cattle are key for the Massie family.

Mike explains: “Ground here is too wet for outwintering, so dry cows are housed and fed 15kg of silage and ad-lib straw. Young stock and back-end cows with calves are fed on a TMR of straw, silage and barley.”

Bulls for breeding are turned out in mid-April, with the October sale bulls being brought back inside in August, and the February sale bulls coming inside in November. Mike says it’s important to keep bulls as natural as possible.

“Keeping the bulls out for as long as possible promotes good health and keeps mobility intact.”.

Stock bulls

Over the years, Elrick has had some outstanding Charolais stock bulls. One of the first of those was Maerdy Dublin, who produced fantastic carcase cattle, with sons selling to 17,000gns.

Then came the legend that is Thrunton Fearless.

“He was arguably our most consistent breeder to date of both males and females, and produced our 2017 champion. He left us a very even herd of quality females and some great sale averages,” said Mike. He was followed by another great, in Maerdy Gouverneur.

“Bought as a senior bull for his new breeding lines and ease of calving, he bred really well for us and together with Florida, gave us our top price to date. He left us an average of 9,000gns for 20 sons sold and his daughters are now breeding well in the herd,” added Mike.

In recent years Westcarse Houdini and Ballinlare Phantom have been the main Charolais sires at Elrick. Houdini was an easy calving bull who left some really saleable bulls.

The current stock bull, Phantom, was bred in Northern Ireland and is a son of the 50,000gns Balthayock Justice. Mike believes this bull has a lot to offer, “he has proven himself to be an easy calver on heifers, and his first three sons have averaged 8,333gns”.

The Massie’s first Limousin stock bull was a homebred son of Ronick Gains, who bred big, powerful females, which formed a good base for the herd.

Ryedale Paragon followed, adding quality carcases to the herd. In 2016, Elrick Jethro was retained as a herd sire. Commenting on Jethro, Mike said: “He has been a consistent breeder for us, with sons winning multiple senior champions at Stirling and his pedigree can be found in the last three Stirling supreme champions.”

The Empire son, Whinfellpark Nobu, was bought as a young bull at Carlisle, and has bred exceptionally well, producing the supreme champion at the February bull sales in Stirling in both 2023 and 2024, topping at 15,000gns.

Maraiscote Ribery is the herd’s current stock bull, and his first sons are destined for Stirling in a week’s time. He was purchased at Carlisle for 16,000gns, after securing the reserve junior champion.

A small amount of AI is used on Limousin heifers every year to introduce new bloodlines to the herd.

Breeding objectives

The motto at Elrick is simple, to breed easy-calved, easily-fleshed bulls for the commercial market.

Mike explains: “Easy calving is a must in both breeds, with the use of myostatin as a good guide. I would avoid double Q204X carriers, and Nt821 carriers in the Limousin breed, but there is no doubt a single Q gene can add some muscle, especially in the Charolais. It’s still early days for this, so we shouldn’t be narrowing our choices. The bull numbers are ever decreasing, so we need to keep variety.”

Quality by eye is still the first indicator for Mike.

“We can’t sell bulls with poor figures and neither should we, as there will be substance behind the theory, but the accuracies are not always there. By the time a bull gets to five years old, his breeding figures can vary immensely from the time of sale.

“Extensive use of a sire has a big impact on figures, and should manifest itself in accuracy, however, the bull only plays a part in calving ease.

“The female lines and herd management are also crucial.”

When asked about the future, Mike was very clear: “The prospect for both breeds is good as long as breeders keep an eye on ease of calving and commercial traits. With less labour on the farms, these are more important than ever.

“Selling bulls will get harder with cow numbers falling, so we must cull hard and early, to keep the breeding job profitable. The shrinking numbers also make the job of finding a stock bull more difficult, and again, another reason not to rush down one route, but rather keep some variety in the breeds.”

Plans for the future

Mike’s plan for the future is very simple: “Stay alive and hopefully keep good health and continue what we do, whilst still enjoying it. Pedigree breeding is a passion, and the hunt for the next good stock bull or the hope to breed the next champion keeps us moving forward.”

Mike hopes some of his daughters continue the Elrick prefix in the future, and hopefully win some more championships along the way.