Toplines and Tales

Although the very first lady to have their portrait hung in the prestigious Saddle and Sirloin Club, the name of Sal Forbes may not be familiar to everyone but she really was a true inspiration not just to cattle breeders worldwide but to all women in the industry. With a deep pedigree of high achievers in her family, Dr Bob Hough highlights some of their fascinating history before we hear how Sal, with her husband Waldo, started and shaped the Red Angus breed by instigating and promoting high performance.  

This week we chat to a Scotsman in Argentina, who has been there some 60 years, man and boy, working with and bringing out some of the best cattle in the country. As he casually mentions winning more than 40 championships at Palermo show, along with a whole list of other achievements, it is pretty obvious why he is valued as one of the top cattlemen in South America to this day and it is a great pleasure to hear his story.

Geordie Soutar and his family have made it a passion to preserve the Native lines of Angus cattle that could trace origins back to the original herd books. Looking back at a type of cattle that would finish off grass they soon found their genetics were sought after world-wide. With bulls like Dunlouise Jipsey Earl, the Native Angus is now represented in many countries and Geordie has suitably been rewarded for his work with an OBE.

An episode everyone should listen to, we chat to New Zealand dairy farmer Marc Gascoigne about the mental health struggles he suffered some years ago and how the Farmstrong organization helped him through.  Now one of their ambassadors, he reveals how Farmstong started in New Zealand 8 years ago, covering the whole topic of wellbeing in the agricultural community. With the company currently running a series of talks throughout Scotland, we are also joined Farmstrong Scotland’s chairman, John Scott, about what message is spreading and how.

Top Irish Simmental breeder Garrett Behan is an extremely hard man to get past, both at sales and shows. With the Clonagh and Jennalyn herds both churning out top stock that are highly in demand, he talks us through his journey from just one cow to selling the current record priced Simmental bull. Also winner of the coveted Miss World with Clonagh Darling Eyes, Garrett now holds an annual online sale, due shortly.

Another special episode this week hears me host an online webinar to 200 guests, direct from the lambing sheds of two of Scotland's leading sheep breeders, Robert Laird from Cambwell and Finlay MacIntyre from Dunalistair Estate. In conjunction with Harbro we chat through the challenges of lambing, with these two knowledgeable guys offering a whole host of free advice to sheep breeders of all levels.. 

Yet another first at Toplines and Tales as we go visual for the first time. This weeks podcast charts the history of the iconic Perth Bull Sales in conjunction with a simultaneous YouTube video portraying hundreds of photos of the subjects mentioned. Please visit Youtube and look for Toplines and Tales, episode 114.

Or follow this link. https://youtu.be/W58DZ42mWbQ Please also click the button to subscribe to our channel. 

A great fun chat with Cammy Wilson from the phenomenally successful YouTube Channel, The sheep Game. His passion for the industry shines through from the outset as we discuss some personal stuff and move on to what we can all do for farmer’s mental health. The time flies by as a host of subjects of all things sheep come and go as we get an insight into what makes one man evolve into a household word in our industry in such a short space of time.  

Just how do you go about designing and creating a new top-quality breed of sheep to suit the modern world? Our guest Graham Gilmore of the Tattykeel stud in Australia has done just that, breaking just about every record in the book in the process including making 240,000 dollars for one ram. With statements like ‘people are hungry, not cold’ the Tattykeel Australian White not only sheds its wool, thrives in all climates, but produces some of the finest restaurant-quality meat in the world due to the uniquely low melting point of its intra-muscular fat. This episode really is a fascinating insight into the future of the world-wide lamb industry.

We pay homage to a well known character and cattleman I had massive respect for, sadly recently deceased, Peter (Piccolo) Dowlman. Although a humble man, his ability with animals and people made him a great friend and mentor to many over his long lifespan, particularly among Hereford and Angus breeds. His son Paul and I chat about his achievements as well as some of the craic that was had in his presence.