| Hereford Cattle |
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The Lower Hope herd of Pedigree Herefords was established in 1987 drawing cattle from many herds around the UK and beyond. The herd has been built around the Canadian bull Goldbar Profile 15G RMXX who went on to become Sire of the Year 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1989. Female bloodlines include cows from the Costhorpe, Dendor, Butts, Kingsland, Smithston and Windycote Herds. In 1988 two other Canadian bulls, Senior Bull Champion at Agribition Rloa Dynasty and ZKMH Derby were introduced into the herd. The Lower Hope Herd quickly established itself as one of the top herds in the UK, taking the Grand Slam in 1989 with: Herd, Sire, Bull and Female of the Year. The herd continued to enjoy great success over the years taking many top awards. Recently the herd took 1998 Bull of the Year with a homebred bull Lowerhope 1 Napolean and then in 2003 Poll Bull of the Year with Lower Hope Vatcher who was successfully sold to Gorsington Estates. Current Stock Bulls used are Brodnyx 1 Portrait and Lower Hope Vulcan. The herd comprises of 60 cows plus followers, calving in the Spring and Autumn. We aim to have the heifers producing a calf at 2 1/2 years. The cattle graze the parklands, meadows and paddocks surrounding Lower Hope. During the winter months, the cows are housed and fed on home produced fodder. The young stock are weaned at 6-8 months and are reared in groups and fed on homegrown cereals and protein. All pedigree bulls are sold to private buyers and non pedigree registered castrated animals are carefully fattened for various markets and fat stock shows. The herd uses Signet Beef breeder for weight recording and EBV monitoring. |