SALE REPORTS

2011

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2007  2006  2005

Spring Bull Sale 2011

12 Bulls to £5800 averaged £3958

11 Bulling Heifers to £2100 averaged £1600

Black Baldie Bulling Heifers to £1250

Black Baldie Bullocks to £1000

Hereford X Cows with calf to £1650

Line One Hereford genetics in demand at Ervie Spring Bull Sale

Commercial beef producers turned out in force to Mains of Airies, Stranraer on Saturday 7th May for the second Ervie Herefords Spring bull Sale. On offer were the first crop of bulls with the American “Line One “ influence which the Douglas family has invested heavily in over the past few years by importing embryos.

Auctioneer, Harry  Begg from Cumberland & Dumfriesshire Farmers Mart commented afterwards that the demand for these naturally developed bulls with strong proven genetics in particular the Line One breeding was outstanding.

Topping the bull trade was Ervie L1 Achiever 91172G selling to the Campbell Partnership, Middlesborough for £5800. Next at £5500 was Ervie 851 Advance F1086 to Bainbridge Farms, Morpeth, followed by £5200 for Ervie L1 Achiever 91161F to Glenbarr Farms, Argyll. First bull in the ring, Ervie 882 Advance F1093 sold at £5000 to Ballylinny Livestock, Lockerbie. Two bulls hit the £4000 mark with firstly Ervie Class Act F1134 selling to Dutch buyer Giel Hermans and then Ervie L1 Achiever 91170L to G McKie & Co., Wigtown. 12 Bulls averaged £3958.

A small selection of Pedigree Hereford bulling heifers sold to £2100 for Ervie Narcissi 91159 to Irish buyer J Hewitt, Co Tyrone. £1900 was paid for Ervie Miss Advance F1111 by DP & J Griffiths, Caernarfon, South Wales.  At £1800 was Ervie Chance F1077 to local buyer B Holland. £1700 was given for Ervie Topsy 91179 by M Maxwell Castle Douglas. 11 Bulling Heifers averaged £1600.

The Commercial cattle on offer with Hereford and Angus genetics also met keen interest.

Black Baldie Bulling Heifers to £1250 to Kirvennie Farming Co, Wigtown.

Black Baldie Bullocks to £1000 to J McIntosh, Stranraer.

Hereford X Cows with calf to £1650 to W & J Mair, Cumnock.

Herd owner, John Douglas suggested afterwards that the influence of the Line One Hereford genetics offered buyers maximum hybrid vigour when used in a cross breeding program and offered better consistency of type, and that selection was entirely based on profit making traits. He added that he had been attracted to the Line One cattle for their high maternal traits but had seen an immediate improvement also in the muscling and carcass quality of the progeny.

Plans are now being made to stage the 3rd Ervie Spring Bull Sale, again the first Saturday in May 2012 with 45 young bulls in the pipeline for selection.

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Spring Bull Sale 2010
10 bulls averaged £1850
14 commercial cows averaged £1208
5 commercial in-calf heifers averaged £980
6 commercial maiden heifers averaged £818

Due to the strong demand by private treaty for their Hereford bulls during the months of April/May in recent years, for 2010 the Douglas family decided to host an on-farm auction offering their customers 10 of their top young bulls. Saturday 1st May was the date chosen. Food and refreshments were on offer to potential customers from 9am until the auction at 11am. With a small crowd of 40+ gathered, auctioneer Harry Begg from Dumfries had no difficulty in finding bids for the bulls. Of the ten outwintered and unpampered bulls forward, six qualified as Superior sires for the new scheme introduced by the Hereford Cattle Society. All the bulls were pre-sale veterinary physically examined and semen tested.
First in the ring and making the top price of £2300 was Ervie Mark Donald E986 selling to repeat buyers, B & E Welsh, Roundshaw Herefords, Auchinleck. Hot on his heels at £2200 was Ervie Encore E971 selling to new customer J Dalrymple, Stranraer for use on Angus X heifers. Young Hereford enthusiast, Gavin Dunbar went to £2100 for Ervie Mark Donald E990 making this his third successive herd sire from Ervie. Another new customer was T Hutchison, Whithorn also bidding to £2100 for Ervie Builder E1001 for use on his dairy cows and heifers. Volume buyer at the sale was Dourie Farming Company buying 5 in total going to join 11 existing Ervie bulls used as sweepers to their AI programme in their large dairy enterprises at Port William. Final bull in the ring sold to repeat buyer J Dunlop for use in both their beef and dairy enterprises at Kirkcudbright.
Following the sale of bulls a selection of Hereford X cows calving to the Angus sire, and Hereford/Angus cross beef breeding heifers were auctioned. These sold to a top of £1500 to Gavin Millar, Jedburgh. Other buyers included J McIntosh, Stranraer; J Mair, Cumnock; W Stewart, Kirkcolm and J McMaster, Port William.
Herd boss, John Douglas intends making this Spring bull sale an annual event for them and is confident of putting together an exceptionally strong offering in 2011 with thirty of the first progeny from their American Line One imports in the pipeline.

Return to top of page ************************************************************************* 2009 Open Day & Sale report   After a wet start to the morning the day brightened to allow the Douglas family to host their Ervie Herefords Autumn Sale & Open Day on Saturday 15th August. Those attending included commercial bull customers and fellow pedigree Hereford breeders from the length and breadth of the country including a few from Northern Ireland and the Scottish Western Isles. The Open Day began with two pens of in-calf heifers and some yearling bull on display with two classes for stockjudging. Field tours of the cows with spring and summer born calves along with the three Line One stock bulls imported from America were the main reason for many of the commercial producers attending. They were also able to tour through the 24 Line One calves born in July from the most recent shipment of embryos from the States. Barbeque lunch was served under a marquee with local accordionist Tommy Agnew providing some fine Scottish medley as background music. After lunch, Dumfries auctioneer Harry Begg put the seven pedigree heifers under the hammer. These were in-calf to imported bull Ervie L1 Achiever 851A. First heifer in the ring was Ervie Pansy D922 selling to Martin Jones, Hereford for £2300. Mr Jones also purchased Ervie D907 for £2400. Another breeder who had travelled all the way from Hereford to purchase was Nigel Hooper. He bought Lisette D905 for £2000, Barbara D910 for £2400 and Pansy D912 for £1800. Eighteen year old Ben Westby started off his pedigree Hereford herd by buying Barda D896 and Narcissi E928 for £1700 & £1350 respectfully. To round off his purchases Mr Hooper also secured twelve Hereford cross in-calf heifers by private treaty.Summing up the day host John Douglas said, “Our main thrust for the OpenDay was to bring the qualities of the American Line One cattle we have invested in to the attention of our pedigree and commercial customers. Our herd is run under a totally commercial regime and we have huge interest from our bull customers in the increased natural performance these cattle can offer them.”"   Ervie Pansy D922 Ervie Pansy D907 Martin Jones, £2300 Martin Jones, £2400 Ervie Lisette D905 Ervie Barbara D910 Nigel Hooper, £2000 Nigel Hooper, £2400 Ervie Pansy D912 Ervie Barda D896 Nigel Hooper, £1800 Ben Westby, £1700 Ervie Narcissi E928 Ervie Narcissi D924 Ben Westby, £1350 Mr T Birkett, £1800 Return to top of page *************************************************************************   2008 INTERNET HEIFER SALE John and Alexandra wish to thank our bidders and buyers for supporting our 2008 Internet Heifer Sale. Your interest has been very much appreciated and we hope to be able to return some business in the future. Good luck to our successful bidders! Please continue viewing our web site for future events. Ervie Peach C804 Ervie Snowdrop D828 Ervie Hazel D832 Mr Gordon Buchanan £2000 Mr Raymond Pogue £2000 Mr Tom Birkett £1500 Ervie Pansy D831 Ervie Narcissi D839 Ervie Broadway D850 Mr Tom Birkett £1200 Mr Gordon Buchanan £1500 Mr James Dunlop £1500 Return to top of page ************************************************************************* Autumn 2007 Sale of Pedigree Heifers With the outbreak of foot and mouth in southern England coming so close to the planned date of our pre-sale open day, the decision was taken (in the interest of both our potential buyers and our own bio security) to cancel. Whilst the Internet Sale was also cancelled, the heifers have been sold by private treaty following the lifting of restrictions. The sale results are shown below. It is our intention to hold an Autumn 2008 Sale of Pedigree Heifers internet based as previous years and would like to take this opportunity to thank all our buyers and those who have shown interest in our herd for their continued support. John and Alexandra Ervie Barda B651 Ervie Lisette B656 Ervie Betty B674 Ervie Pansy B675 Mr Tom Birkett  £1500 Mr John Romans £1500 Mr Will Chase £2000 Mr Will Chase £3000 Ervie Lisette B689 Ervie Ruth B693 Ervie Janet B700 Ervie Hazel B709 Mr Tom Birkett £900 Mr Tom Birkett £2000 Mr Giel Hermans £1130 Mr Giel Hermans £1130 Ervie Oyster Girl B713 Ervie Pansy B720 Ervie Unitarian B724 Ervie Progress B728 Mr Gordon Buchanan £1700 Mr Giel Hermans £1130 Mr Will Chase £900 Mr Tom Birkett £1000 Ervie Daffodil C735 Ervie Model C739 Ervie Lisette C742 Ervie Snowdrop C743 Mr Will Chase £2500 Mr Will Chase £3000 Mr Adrian Irvine £2000 Mr Tom Birkett £1200 Return to top of page ************************************************************************* John and Alexandra wish to thank all our bidders and buyers for supporting our 2006 Internet Heifer Sale. Your interest has been very much appreciated and we hope to be able to return some business in the future. Good luck to all our successful bidders! Please continue viewing our web site for future events. We are pleased to publish the following quote, received recently, from a sucessful bidder in the Autumn 2006 Internet Sale.:-  "We are really pleased with our two heifers (A499 Ervie Barbara and A511 Ervie Snowdrop) especially 499. She has an excellent heifer calf . Show potential"....... Mr Adrian Ervine (N. Ireland)   Ervie Herefords Autumn Internet Heifer Sale 15/09/06 In-calf Pedigree Hereford heifers sold to a peak of £3000 (twice) at the second Autumn Internet sale held on the evening of Friday15th September. The sale was very much a success with twenty of the thirty-eight heifers on offer selling to an average of £1760.55 Bidders came from all over the UK and Eire and most came to view the cattle over the preceding 2 weeks providing them with a good idea of our total breeding programme before making a selection. Sharing the top price of £3000 was Ervie Noreen A535. She sold in-calf to Ervie Sandman W404 and is due end October. Her buyer is Mr J Neenan from Charleville, Co. Limerick. The other making £3000 was Ervie Pansy A556, also in-calf to Ervie Sandman W404. She sold to Mr Mike Nash, Cheshire who purchased two others at £2000 and £1500. New breeder Tyran Roulston from Northern Ireland was the volume buyer of the sale taking four to a top of £2000. An added feature this year was the “Buyer’s Choice” of the entire group of 18 yearling bulls. The successful bidder was Mr R Westaway, Clipston Herefords, Market Harborough at £1500. W474 £2000 A499 £1950 A500 £1750 A501 £1250 Raymond Pogue Adrian Irvine Richard Bradstock Phillip Steans A504 £1600 A509 £1550 A511 £1600 A514 £1650 Gordon Buchanan Mr K Murphy Adrian Irvine Mr K Murphy A533 £1500 A535 £3000 A546 £1500   A550 £2000 Mike Nash John Neenan Andrew Mathers Tynan Roulston A556 £3000 A558 £1200 A584 £1500 A594 £1500 Mike Nash Mr D Kelly Tynan Roulston Tynan Roulston A596 £1500 A600 £1500 A608 £1300 A614 £2000 Andrew Mathers Gordon Buchanan Tynan Roulston Mike Nash   Return to top of page *************************************************************************   Ervie Herefords Autumn Internet Heifer Sale 20/10/2005 The first Internet sale of pedigree Hereford heifers staged by Ervie Herefords near Stranraer got off to a flying start with heifers peaking at over £5000. Active bidders were competing for 24 of the herd’s top replacement heifers and included breeders from Cheshire, Cumbria, and Northern Ireland. After spirited bidding in the final hours of the sale Northern Ireland breeder Mr Desmond Kelly emerged triumphant, having purchased 14 heifers for an average of £2382 His final bid of £5150 secured Ervie Peach W454 who is sired by the top rated Ervie Classic S30 and is in-calf to Barncleugh Yeovil Y9. With well balanced Breedplan EBV’s, she was also the top heifer in the sale for 400 day weight (+63) and eye muscle area (+2.6) figures. (Click here to view pedigree details and EBV's) Speaking after the sale Mr Kelly commented - “I am delighted to have secured this batch of quality heifers to strengthen our herd which was established just eighteen months ago. I had initially intended to look at two or three heifers, but having viewed John’s cowherd I was particularly impressed with their quality and consistency. I am looking forward to the spring calving!!”………… From our point of view the outcome of the auction was good and we are very grateful to those Hereford enthusiasts who had been to view the cattle and who had participated in the bidding. This method of selling allows us to present the cattle in their natural environment and breeding condition rather than presenting them fitted for the show ring. As well as safeguarding animal health and bio security, this form of auction affords buyers the opportunity to come to the farm when it suits them, to view the entire herd, including sires and dams as well as the sale cattle, whilst still allowing competitive bidding. Future plans include a sale of mature in-calf pedigree Hereford cows March/April 2006 and to make the Autumn heifer sale a set annual event. There are no plans to stage such a sale for bulls at the moment but these are advertised for private sale on the herd website throughout the year.   Return to top of page *************************************************************************