The Philpott family have been farming in Cork, Ireland since they came from England as landlords under Queen Elizabeth I.

Allowdale Herefords was established 2006. At the time we were farming 800 lowland breeding ewes. We wanted to diversify owing to the escalating cost of animal feed, and we decided to buy pedigree Hereford cows with calves at foot.

The reason we chose Hereford Beef Breed was because of their low maintenance requirements and great temperament. In addition, as we are located in the heart of dairy country in North Cork - we benefit from a local market for our bulls.

Our chief goals as Hereford cattle breeders is to provide our bull customers with docile, easy calving bulls without compromising growth rate and ease of fleshing.

We chose our seed stock from some of the best herds in Ireland and the United Kingdom; with cows from Badlingham - A.G. Wright , Ballymartin - Gus Kingston's, Ballyaville - Joe Deverell , Balleen  - Tom Brennan, Border - Stan Quan , Breaney - Kathleen Tynan, Droumdaniel - Gene Lynch, Drummurry - Ronnie Howe, Free Town - Richard Bradstock, Haven - Edward Lewis,  Westwood - Clive Davies . In 2007, 31 animals were imported from Herefordshire, Cambridgeshire and Worcestershire . Our heifers have come from Balleen  - Tom Brennan, Breaney - Katherine Tynan , Grianan - Tom and Anselm Fitzgerald , Haven - Edward Lewis and Trillick - J.J. Farrell

Our first stock bull Border General V25  was purchased from Stan Quan's Border Herd. Border General V25 bred us lovely calves , great length and quick to get up and suck. While he weighed over 1,000 kg at 2 years of age , his stock are easily calved. We believe this is because of his relatively small head and his extra length , his calves tend to be more streamlined.

Our current stock bull Badlingham Boxer was purchased from A.G. Wright and Co's Badlingham herd. Badlingham Boxer is out of Badlingham Blossom 96 a good show cow from one of the most consistently successful cow families in the English Hereford herd book. Badlingham Boxer is a powerful dark red bull who should suit Border General V25 cows.

While we started breeding Hereford cattle in 2006 - we have had a good start to our business - in 2007 we sold 15 Pedigree Hereford bulls including one sale champion, in 2008 we sold 22 Pedigree Hereford bulls and a few Pedigree Hereford heifers. 2009 we sold 20 Pedigree Hereford bulls and a few Pedigree Hereford heifers. This year 2011, though it is still May, so far we have sold 30 Pedigree Hereford bulls and a few Pedigree Hereford heifers.

As for the cow herd , we now have reached our target of 75 cows. As with every herd, culling is as important as breeding. We like our cows to have good length, lots of milk and sound feet - any that don't measure up are culled.

We are extremely thankful to Richard Bradstock of Free Town for allowing us to buy Free Town Panorama - the dam of Free Town Dictator. Free Town Dictator is the 2008 Supreme Champion at Tenbury . Free Town Panorama is our pride and joy and her heifers Allowdale Perdita and Allowdale Phaedra are looking very promising.

In closing, I would like to thank all my fellow breeders for their help and encouragement. We have made many good friends through breeding Hereford cattle. As an enterprise, it is a lot more satisfying than sending lambs off to the factory. There is always a little excitement when a cow calves - maybe this is the one to win at the Tullamore Show !

Liam Philpott