Page 79 - British Blue 2025 Yearbook

FARM FACTS
Brennand Farm and Whitendale Farm totalling 2,428ha
(6,000 acres)
Both owned by United Utilities
The Walkers are well known for the quality of their Mule
gimmer lambs, selling about 450 every year.
Geoff says: “We have won at the show and sale for Mule
gimmer lambs at Skipton for the last five years.
“We only recently started going to Hawes, but last year we
won there as well, which was quite an achievement.”
The Mule wether lambs are wintered away on dairy farms
and sold straight from grass with Swaledale wethers also
mainly sold off grass, with a few brought inside to finish.
The majority of the lambs go deadweight to Kepak which
has a collection centre in Clitheroe.
It is not just their sheep which the family are known for.
They have also had great success in the show and sale ring
with their cattle. The herd currently stands at 40 cows,
which includes six pedigree British Blues with the
remainder Limousin and British Blue crosses.
John says: “We can’t have cattle on the fell or above the
water catchment level, as part of our landlord’s agreement,
which limits numbers and means we have to winter
everything inside over winter. This makes it quite a high
input system, which is why we have continental cattle
rather than natives.
“Calving takes place from Christmas to May, but the farm
has good infrastructure and the landlords are supportive,
paying for a new shed to be put up for cattle housing.”
As well as selling some pedigree bulls and heifers the aim
is to produce cross-bred show calves from the commercial
cows, which are usually sold at nine to 12 months old
through Skipton auction mart.
They have won the Cravens Champion show there on a
number of occasions and sold at Pateley Bridge’s show
potential sale for the first time this year.
Geoff says: “Our heifers in particular are in demand. We
always halter break at least half of them and they
remember it for life, which makes them sought after as
breeding cows as people know they will be easy to
manage.
“The fact that we have high health status is also a good
selling point.”
The Brennand pedigree British Blue herd was established
about 20 years ago with the aim being to breed their own
bulls to maintain a closed herd.
Geoff says: “We do use AI and have bought in bulls in the
earlier years, mainly from Phil Halhead, Norbreck Genetics,
again to ensure we kept our high health status.
“We also flush two or three cows a year to make use of the
best genetics. We feel the breeding on both sides, females
as well as the bull, is really important in both cattle and
sheep.”
The most influential bull in the herd has been Cromwell
Fendt and it was one of its sons, Brennand Panther, which
achieved the family’s highest ever price of 18,000gns
when sold at Carlisle in May 2022.
www.britishbluecattle.org
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