It’s a family affair for Croftends Belgian Blue’s

Andrew Bellas moved to Croftends - a 400 acre farm near Appleby, when he was 4. Having bought the farm from the landlord in the late 80’s, he has now been there for 56 years.  Post foot and mouth Andrew and son Jonathan split from the Eden Valley herd of Belgian Blue's which until then, had been jointly run with sister Christine and Fenton Brass....and so the Croftends prefix was born.

The Bellas family come from a long line of respected cattle breeders, so it is no surprise that the Croftends herd of Belgian Blue’s are often seen with top prizes and high prices at auction. “Power, correctness and locomotion, but not too extreme” were the qualities that Andrew wanted in his new herd. “We were looking for sweetness and fine bone in females who also needed to have very good legs and feet.”

Jim Sloan introduced Andrew to hardy Irish cattle – taking him across the water to Ireland where they visited 8 breeders and became great friends.  “Our first purchase was Mulinary Tyson – a bull calf out of Clonberton Queen owned by Cyril Martin. We were so impressed with him that we went to the Clonberton herd to buy his mother as our first brood cow”.  Joining Queen in the wagon was Clonberton Petrina and an in calf heifer Lismannan Sally.

Above: Lismannon Sally with 2 of her Dafydd D'Ochain heifers and her new twins

Their first venture to Chelford auction was in March 05 with Ballygrange Vinney – a bull bought at Carlisle as a youngster. Their good eye for breeding paid off as he was sold for 11,800gns (a centre record) to Mr Wheelwright at the Upperfoot herd in Halifax.  “Chelford has always been a good auction for us – especially the March sales. We took Croftends Winston – a son of Petrina who took top price selling for 5,900gns, and last month Croftends Bonnie took top price at 8,500gns ” explained Andrew.

Clonberton Queen is mother of Croftends Bruno.

This 14 month old bull by Tintin de My is pictured right. He has been on the show circuit and is usually shown by Jonathan’s son Josh – the third generation of Bellas to be involved in the Croftends herd.

Andrew and Jonathan frequently use bulls like Eden Valley Vigour ET (Sumo son), Dafydd D’Ochain, Tamhorn Sumo, and Tintin, but at this stage Dafydd D’Ochian is proving to

be their best sire.

Lismannan Sally has been one of the most successful brood cows to date, so it made sense to flush her to Dafydd D’Ochain - she flushed well and has produced 5 daughters. Bonnie sold at Chelford for 8500gns, there are two others still under a year, …. then there are the sisters Black Beauty and Belle.

Above: Croftends Belle and Croftends Black Beauty - bound for Beef Expo in May

Both these heifers will be on the Norbreck Genetics stand at Beef Expo at Skipton in May. Andrew and Jonathan plan to breed from Black Beauty and sell Belle in September at Chelford once she has been shown for the summer. They are very stylish, correct heifers with exceptional power, good legs and great mobility. The show ring will be an interesting place this summer!

Sally has recently calved twins (bull and heifer) by Eden Valley Vigour ET (pictured earlier with Black Beauty and Belle).

Winnie has a successful show career winning as a calf at Newark, Penrith and the Royal Welsh. She has also taken 2nd place at the Royal Show and in 2006 has 3 reserve championships to her name. The Bellas family are especially proud of the fact that Winnie was part of the Belgian Blue interbreed team when they won for the first time at the Yorkshire show.

Another brood cow is Clonberton Victoria bought as a calf on a recipient in September 04, pictured here with her recent bull calf Croftends Bandit by Eden Valley Vigour.

So what next for the Croftends herd? Well another trip to Ireland is imminent and the boys are busy in preparation for the show season. Watch out for the two daughters of Sally that will be at Beef Expo – two cracking heifers that should do well on the show circuit this summer.