Herd profile; Dunsyre

Dunsyre; 1500 registered Shorthorns later

The bloodlines that established the Loch Awe herd of Beef Shorthorns and then subsequently the Dunsyre herd were varied.

The Coombs family had started off in Shorthorns while living on a smallholding near Hawick, and Gerorge Dent’s famous Winbrook herd provided them with half a dozen multi-sucklers. These Northern Dairy Shorthorns were moderate-sized sweet-natured dual-purpose cattle that would go on to establish a number of families within the herd.

When they moved to the shores of Loch Awe, Argyll, Carey and Hilary went to Perth and bought their first Beef Shorthorn bull. Uppermill Fleet was a Mandalong Super Elephant son and was acquired from Mary Durno for the princely sum of 1000gns.

He joined the Northern Dairy Shorthorns, a few stubborn Galloways and a rather underwhelming red Shorthorn heifer that they had somehow taken a shine to at a commercial calf sale in Longtown.

This heifer was bought without any knowledge of her pedigree, but subsequently was found out to be Sharplaw Diana Clipper by Newton Timothy of the famous Newton and Woodhead herds. Fleet was busy making himself very much at home in the heather hills and the Coombs thought they would add to his workload.

Once again they travelled to Perth and bought four cows from Bill Bruce’s Balmyle reduction sale. These cows were of a different size and substance to those they had previously thought appropriate for the wild lands of Argyll, but their performance left the couple thinking that maybe there was something worth building on. Balmyle Irene 9th gave them our first taste of success, with a reserve championship at Perth with Loch Awe Aztec, a son of Balmyle Scorpio. Meanwhile in 1985 the Sharplaw heifer bred one solitary calf, christened Loch Awe Leila. Over the years 198 heifer calves have been registered which have been directly descended from this single cow.

The family then moved to Lanarkshire in 1989, taking what they describe as their motley band of cattle with them. They then invested in a further 20 Balmyle bred cows, the last females to be added to the herd.

The job thereafter was to fuse the best qualities of the various bloodlines that they had gathered together.

The breeding objective was simple and that was to breed an efficient, functional, fertile outwintering suckler cow that fed on nothing but grass, mainly because they couldn’t afford anything else!

A number of bulls were used during this time, both by natural service and also by AI. Among these was Uppermill Rio who was a magnificent white son of Balmyle Warpath and had perhaps the deepest second thigh of any bull Carey has seen.

Glenisla Jacobite was a soft roan son of Diamond Xerxes with Egmont Exuberant, a Tasmanian import in his pedigree. He was hugely successful and bequeathed the softness and easy fleshing that the Coombs sought.

Following that they bought Banner Instant Royal from Uppermill and although not sweet in outlook, his progeny had great mobility and the functional attributes that the Canadian cattle of the time were known for.

In 1992 after a judging stint in Orkney Balmyle Zephyr was brought down to Lanarkshire. Despite the poor aged bull being left unattended overnight on the concrete in Biggar Auction Mart he gave a few years valuable service.

Carey then returned home from Australia in 1994 with the vivid image of an outstanding heifer, Marellan Irish Isobel 38th. When he found out later that she had been exported to the USA and served by the well known bull Sutherland Titleist 269 his interest was aroused.

The resulting mating was the homozygous polled bull Sutherland Bundaberg. Carey and Hilary took a chance and imported semen. It was one of the best decisions they have ever made.

Other bulls that played their part, included Uppermill Morse and Groveland Puccini and in 2008 the couple brought back from Wales a Perth Champion, Aylward Luscious 2nd. He was a bull of moderate frame, but tremendous carcass. In 2010 they had to dig a little deeper into their pockets for the October Stirling Champion, Langalbuinoch Barney. He was a bull with all the ruggedness and bone you could wish for and probably the biggest bull owned by the couple, believes Carey.

More recent sires have included Redhill Ferny and Glenisla Guardsman 2nd both of whom have contributed to the constant search for the balance between functionality and performance.

From the beginning there has also been a drive to reinforce the most successful bloodlines with homebred bulls. Notable amongst these are Asterix, Wolfstone, Wrangler and the Lovat, Yorkie, Dreadnought and Hamlet lines.

Looking back through the history of the herd, in 1985 the Coombs registered one heifer. In 1986 two made it into Coates's herd book. In 1987 it was six.

Since those beginnings they have registered about 1170 heifer calves and 300 bulls. There are many of whom they have fond memories. Of the bulls, two stand out. Loch Awe Lysander was a son of Belmore Uptown out of Loch Awe Graduate 2nd and was champion at Perth in 1998. Sold to the Bilsdale and Upsall herds he went on to sire 353 progeny.

The other was Dunsyre Northstar. Sold to Chapelton, his legacy was cut short when he was taken out by Foot-and-Mouth in 2001.