Based near Bristol, UK
Following on from the herd’s recent Breed Championship win at the National Hereford Show at Tenbury Wells in August, the NHC takes a look at the background of Severnvale Herefords, how it was formed, and where it’s going next.
Having recently reduced the farm to just 40 acres to maintain a 12-cow breeding herd, Severnvale Herefords’ founder Edward Mills classes himself as semi-retired, having introduced Herefords to Church Farm back in 1984. The Severnvale prefix was registered with the then Hereford Herd Book Society to run alongside the farm’s Northwick herd of British Friesians and, having grown up with pedigree cattle and been a keen stock judge since his YFC days, Edward has always enjoyed judging cattle of various breeds at many agricultural shows.
When the farm ceased milk production, the grassland was put into conservation grazing schemes, and Edward describes how his type of horned Herefords have thrived living on that system:
“With the farm being heavy clay and situated on the banks of the River Severn, it was ideal for conservation grazing with Herefords. Our herd is loose housed in winter, fed a diet of hay and haylage, and grazed during the summer months on a set stocking system. Bulls are turned out at the beginning of June and remain with the herd until calving in the spring, with some of our principle stock bulls having brought different attributes over the years.
“Dovemount Litchfield gave us a super milky type of cow, Haven Rex brought increased growth rates and stature, Ervie 825 Express gave us the Hereford type we were looking for, Venen Hotspur maintained this type and left milky cows, and Somerwood Rondo (bred by Andy Owens) was the most amenable bull ever and gave us our 2024 show team. The cows are in calf this time to an Ervie Classic son who came for his summer holiday, and we are now looking for a non-X horned bull for the next generation.
“My aim has been to produce a medium-sized cow with a good udder, legs, and feet, with consideration given to temperament, ease of calving, markings and EBVs. I’ve always believed the key to success is in the cow families, of which we have predominantly used ‘Charm’ derived from the Free Town C family via Risbury, ‘Wilfull’ from the Tarrington W family via Welford, ‘Venus’ of the Penatok families which came from our Traditional cows, and our latest addition was the ‘Hazel’ family from Aultoun.”
Over the years, Severnvale bulls have mainly been sold throughout the West Country to dairy farmers, with a few now sold into pedigree herds. Many of the females have gone to start new herds all over England and Wales, and in preparation for Edward’s recent stay in hospital, the main herd were moved to the care of a family in the Forest of Dean where, in July, Severnvale Wilfull 14th proved her longevity by giving birth to a heifer calf at almost 14 years of age. The herd achieved a section win in the 2022 South West Hereford Association’s herd competition, as well as a second place the following year. Having previously classified the Friesian herd, Edward was keen to see how the Herefords would fare now that the service was available for beef breeds and was pleased to see a third of his breeding females classified Excellent (EX) on the first visit.
Employing the show cattle livery services of Thea Woollatt during 2024 allowed Edward to exhibit a Severnvale Herefords show team with fantastic results, including multiple championships for the homebred 2022-born bull Severnvale Rogue. To sum up what has been a tremendous year on the show circuit, Edward says: “The credit goes to Thea!”.
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