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ILC Visit - The RONICK HERD
One of the most famous bulls in the
Limousin breed – Broadmeadows Cannon, is just one of the many
fine cattle which have played a major role in the history of the Ronick
pedigree herd.
 This
herd of over 250 breeding females, belongs to the Dick family, based
at Mains of Throsk in the Carse of Stirling in Central Scotland. David
Dick, wife Alison and son Ronald farm their own 2,500 acres of arable
land to the east of Stirling. They also do "stubble to stubble" contract
work on a further local 1,000 acres. David and Alison’s daughter – Wendy,
is married to Ian Callion. The couple run their own pedigree "Lodge" Limousin
herd nearby.
The Dicks also run a commercial herd of just under 130 Limousin – blooded
cows.
A glance at the history of the Ronick herd reveals an array of achievements,
which individually would be the wildest dream of many pedigree breeders of any
breed. Ronick holds an all breeds price record, has bred one of the most prolific
bulls in the Limousin breed, showed the first Limousin to win the Royal Show
Individual Beef Championship and has bucketsful of championship rosettes from
the very top shows in the land. And it all started with "Barney"!
Little Ronald Dick fed Barney, a Friesian bull calf, every morning and evening,
before and after school. When Barney was sold, he returned enough money for Ronald
to buy three calves. These three bought nine and so things progressed. Some years
later, Ronald Dick had amassed £5,000 from his calf venture and knew exactly
how he would spend it.
 While
Ronald had been rearing calves, his father had been buying and finishing
store cattle. "In the 1970’s I bought my first bunch of Limousin
cross suckled calves out of Lanark mart", explained David. "They
out-performed any other cattle I had ever bought. From then on I not
only aimed to buy Limousin crosses, but also converted the suckler herd
to Limousin X Friesian cows put to Limousin bulls".
Ronald had decided to invest his £5,000 in a pedigree Limousin female.
On March 28th 1980, he was about to leave Throsk for a Limousin sale at Carlisle,
when his father said "I’ll just jump in the car with you". "Good
job he came", said Ronald. "I chose in-calf Fingask Natalie with Keerholme
Pandora at foot. She sold for 5,500 gns, over my budget, so Dad made up the difference".
In fact David also bought one for himself – the maiden heifer Skelden Ombre.
The Ronick herd was founded – as a hobby! A "hobby" which has
since developed into over 250 pedigree breeding females! After purchasing their
pick from the Druk herd dispersal in 1980, the Dicks needed a good stock bull.
October 1981, Carlisle, an Osiris son Goldies Rascal, a prize winner at the 1981
International Limousin Congress show, caught their eye. "We also liked the
look of Tanhill Rumpus, another bull at the I.L.C.", explained David, "but
we opted for Rascal and paid a new record price – 8,000 gns". That
record lasted approximately 15 minutes – when Tanhill Rumpus took his turn
in the ring, he sold for 8,500 gns, to the current Limousin Society President,
Douglas Crighton of the Broadmeadows herd.
Over two decades later, Limousin enthusiasts now know that had the Dicks bought
Rumpus, they would have re-written British Limousin history. There would not
have been a BROADMEADOWS CANNON.
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| Broadmeadows Cannon |
For when Douglas Crighton mated Tanhill
Rumpus with Broadmeadows Tansy, she produced Broadmeadows Ainsi. Ainsi,
when mated with the Favori-sired Broadmeadows V.I.P., bred a bull called
Broadmeadows Cannon, destined to be the most prolific sire in the history
of the British Limousin breed. Cannon had topped the 1988 Carlisle
October sale when bought by Matt Ridley of the Haltcliffe herd for
8,000 gns. In 1990, David Dick judged the North West Limousin Club
Herd competition. He awarded the Progeny prize to the Haltcliffe offspring
of Broadmeadows Cannon, then persuaded Matt Ridley to sell the bull.
The Dicks already had his dam - Broadmeadows Ainsi, bought at the 1988
Broadmeadows Dispersal, for 8,200gns. By then, after serving three
years as Vice-Chairman of the Limousin Cattle Society, David Dick was
Chairman.
At the 1991 Royal Show, Ainsi not only won glory for the Ronick herd
when she won the breed championship, she also went on to grab the glory
for the entire Limousin breed, by becoming the first Limousin to win
the prestigious Supreme Interbreed Individual Championship, just one
of her many, many top show successes.
The following year at Throsk, a very special Ainsi grandson was born – Ronick
Hawk, sired by Broadmeadows Cannon and out of Ronick Esther. While
being shown at the Royal Show as a youngster, Hawk was spotted by Genus,
who bought him privately for their A.I. stud. He has since become the "Genus
WonderBull", guaranteeing commercial and pedigree breeders consistent
top quality.
One of his crossbred sons – Danny Boy, won the 2000 Royal Smithfield
Show. At the other end of the commercial scale, another of his sons
topped the opening sale of the Rural Centre on the Isle of Tiree in
August 2003. The highest price Hawk son is Penyrheol Sam, which sold
for 13,000 gns at Carlisle in May 2003. He is also a great sire of
pedigree stock, with sons selling to five figures. In fact as at 12th
January 2004, Ronick Hawk was the second most prolific pedigree sire
in the Limousin breed – with 2158 pedigree progeny. The only
bull with more registered calves was his sire – Broadmeadows
Cannon, with 2617. In third place, with 2084, was Fanfaron, one of
the 24 bulls in the first Limousin importation in 1970.
Cannon’s semen is available from the Dicks. Alison Dick is in
charge of semen sales, and mischievously tells her nonfarming chums
that she is a "semen seller"! Ronick Hawk’s dam – Ronick
Esther, his full sister Ronick Sandra and half sister, the Gaspard-sired
Ronick Isabelle, have recently found a new home – in the Goldies
herd of James K. Goldie and family in Dumfries-shire. Hawk is just
one of several Cannon sons at A.I.. Others include Broadmeadows Lydo,
Redpaths Jaguar and Hartside Jacko.
Broadmeadows Ainsi has proved herself to be more than just a bull breeder – in
November 1997 at the Carlisle Red Ladies Sale, Ronick McAinsi, out
of Ainsi and sired by Talent, won the championship and topped the sale
at a new maiden heifer all breeds record, which as at January 2004,
still stands – 28,000 gns. The buyer – Doug Mash of the
Brockhurst herd, Chesham, Buckinghamshire. Ronick McAinsi is still
a looker – at the 2003 Royal Welsh, she won the female and reserve
Limousin championship. There are a number of Ainsi daughters still
in the Ronick herd. Broadmeadows Ainsi was not just a beautiful cow,
but also the type of cow every breeder dreams of owning – with
strength of breeding capable of producing top quality calves of either
sex, sired by a variety of bulls.
 The
Dicks had the foresight to buy her even before they had seen the quality
of her son, Broadmeadows Cannon’s calves. Whether it was luck
or judgement, who knows? Whichever it was, either luck or judgement
had also been in play in 1981. Building numbers for their "hobby" herd,
the Dicks bought three imported heifers from Albert Howie of the Knock
herd in Aberdeenshire, including Rive. Rive bred Ronick Tracy, the
dam of Ronick Beauty, who was reserve female champion and reserve champion
at the Royal in 1989, and who produced Ronick Danita, Scottish Female
of the Year 1995, Overall champion Limousin 2000 in 1996, plus 1997
Royal Highland champion, where she beat her daughter Ronick Janita
into reserve.
Janita became one of the most successful show cattle in Limousin history,
Her outstanding show career included:- (between 1997 and 2000) – Royal
Show Burke Trophy Reserve Royal Show Burke Trophy Royal Show - two
Supreme Championships and two Reserve Supreme Championships. Royal
Highland – two Supreme Championships and two Reserve Supreme
Championships. A Limousin 2000 Supreme Championship and Scottish Female
of the Year, three times. Janita’s daughter – Ronick Tanita
was Junior champion at the 2003 Royal Highland. "To win what we
did with Broadmeadows Ainsi was absolutely wonderful", said David, "but
nothing can beat the thrill of winning a big show with one of your
own home-bred animals and Beauty, Danita, Janita and Tanita gave us
those thrills, which we’ll never, ever forget".
Four of the five current herd sires at Ronick are from the "Beauty" family.
The other is Bailea Olympia, bred by Brian Jones of Wales. This son
of Marron was the Carlisle May 2000 champion and cost 14,000 gns. Head
Stockman of the Ronick herd is the enthusiastic Dougie McBeath, but
with over 250 breeding females, plus followers, even Dougie’s
enthusiasm is struggling to cope. Therefore on November 20th, at Carlisle,
the Ronick herd, which has carved its name throughout the British history
of the Limousin breed, will hold its Inaugural sale.
David Dick was born onto a small tenanted Stirlingshire farm, which
is now part of the 2,500 acre enterprise owned by the Dicks. David
was just seven when, with feet only just reaching the tractor pedals,
he ploughed at his first ploughing match and won a third prize. Before
he had ploughed at his last, he had won three Scottish championships
and a British championship in 1970. His son Ronald inherited David’s
determination, which has also resulted in national glory for the family
- his schoolboy calf rearing enterprise generated the funds to buy
a pedigree Limousin, founding the Ronick herd. David Dick’s match
plough, a Ransome, is still at Throsk, confident that one day in the
future, David will again put it through its paces.
Also at Throsk are hundreds of Limousin cattle, brimming with some
of the most successful bloodlines in the breed. Who would dare prophesy
what the future holds for them?!
John Nattress recognised the potential of the Limousin breed from his
first crop of cross-bred calves in 1971. Even he could not have foreseen
that within three short decades, pedigree Limousins from his own family’s
herd would be topping Society sales and setting breed record averages.
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