Maintaining the growing momentum of Limousin export interest from the UK national herd, a further thirty-three Limousin heifers from the north of England have been sold and exported to a Polish client. The consignment was made up of twenty-two heifers from Steven and Michael Priestley’s Brontemoor herd Hill Top Farm, Denholme near Bradford and eleven heifers from Alan Jenkinson's Whinfell herd at Clifton Moor, Penrith.

Brontemoor heifer

The joint venture was organised by Norbreck Genetics in Lancaster in conjunction with Carlisle breeder Gordon Wilson from the Bankdale herd and his daughter Helen. This consignment marks the second fulfilled order to Poland with 20 Limousin in-calf heifers from the Jenkinson’s Whinfell herd having been successfully exported in July this year.

All of the heifers travelling to Poland range between 12 and 18 months and are ready for breeding as soon as they reach their destination. Steven Priestley, who has been breeding pedigree Limousins for over 20 years, confirmed that the process of exporting had been far easier than he imagined and that he was delighted to have exported to a newly established market. He plans to travel to Poland next summer to see for himself how the Brontemoor-bred cattle are doing.

The Polish breeder customers are aiming to build up their suckler cow herd numbers to 1,000 head and have been pleased to visit the UK in their search for good Limousin females. They have quickly recognised the high quality genetics available in the UK and have indicated their intent to place further orders. Interest in Limousin cattle from mainland and Eastern European countries continues to grow with a number of enquiries into UK Limousin livestock presently being pursued.

Underpinning the potential of these markets for Limousin genetic packages, a quantity of Limousin semen has also been exported to Poland from two well-known Limousin bulls: Grahams Samson, the ILC 2004 National Show Champion from Doug Edgar, Penrith and Nouvelle Prospect, the Wilson Jupiter son from Richard Bartle and Christine Williams at Shifnal.  “From the sale of the semen, it was a natural progression for us to facilitate the export of British Limousin beef females so they could develop their own beef breeding programmes,” said Philip Halhead, Managing Director of Norbreck Genetics and Beef Consultant for Cogent Limited. 

Through October and November of this year, the BLCS has booked promotional stands at three of the premier European Agri Expo events to further promote the quality and availability of British Limousin genetics.  They are Polagra in Poznan, Poland; Eurotier in Hanover, Germany and Indagra in Bucharest, Romania. 

Limousin Cattle to 4,500gns at Carlisle
Limousin Bull Says Olé To Mexico!
Whinfell Park Limousins Lead The Way to Poland
Limousins at The Royal Highland Show 2006