Visiting Empire progeny on a trip to the "De Hubinne" Herd in Belgium

Our recent herd visit in Belgium was organised to see the progress of the Empire D’Ochain cattle. Benoit Cassart (Fabroca) took us to the Belgian Blue herd of Monsieur Jean Paul Polet. The “De Hubinne” herd is commercially managed and has some of the oldest Empire cattle around, ranging from young calves to 20 month old bulls.  Other breeders have also seen Empire progeny in Belgium - read on for their feedback.

Norbreck Genetics introduced Empire in 2006 because of his size, style and power. We were excited by the few young calves we saw then, but this recent trip has shown us fantastic results from his breeding in Belgium. We were very excited to see that Empire is transmitting power, scale and size into his progeny and they all have good colour markings.

Pictured right: Benoit Cassart from Fabroca, with M. Jean Paul Polet

Empire young stock are every bit as good as the first Dafydd D’Ochain cattle we saw – but the Empire D’Ochain progeny are exhibiting more bone structure –  hence a great growth potential.  

Above: Two 16 month old heifers by Empire D’Ochain

Below: a 3 month heifer with great potential and some Empire calves from a commercial herd

20 month bull out of a small Belgian cow with extreme muscling.              

Well respected breeders endorse what Norbreck Genetics has to say

Andrew Graham from the Wreay herd has recently visited Belgium and seen some Empire progeny - he endorsed everything that Norbreck Genetics said and added that  “they were a good type of animal for the UK market.”

Adam Neachell (Cromwell Herd) and Andrews Geary from the Littlewood herd visited Belgium in winter 06 and saw several herds with Empire young stock. They returned home singing the praises of Empire calves and ordered semen straight away.

Graham Coates from the Greystone herd has just had his first Empire calf and we congratulate him on being the first Empire calf to be borne in the UK. Graham was the first UK breeder to see the bull in Belgium and after that visit, he became the first person to buy semen because he felt “the bull had a bright future.”