Taste is the key element in Hereford beef production

05/07/2008

“From the consumer’s perspective, the most important thing is obviously taste. I have always been somewhat perturbed by the fact that producers are awarded for the quality of their carcasses instead of the quality of the actual meat. The marbled fat inside the meat is only formed after the fat has already formed under the skin of the animal and into the cavities of the body. In other words, producers are penalised for producing extremely high quality marbled meat from animals that otherwise have too much fat from the slaughtering perspective,” Herlin comments.

Herlin is owner of Thorsvik Manor in Kirkkonummi, a small rural community just to the west of Helsinki. From the windows of the main building you can make out the tall apartment buildings in suburban Espoo. The manor house itself has a fascinating history.

“A certain baron founded Thorsvik in the 1840s by combining two farms that he had purchased. My great grandfather bought Thorsvik in 1912 and farmed the land until 1941. In 1944 our unwelcome tenants arrived from the East, as the entire area around the Porkkala peninsula was leased to the Soviet Union as a naval base after the war. When our family returned here in February 1956, all the wooden buildings had been destroyed and snow covered the floors of the main building,” Herlin describes.

“My parents re-established the farm, which had produced milk until 1944. The milk was transported to Helsinki by water in summertime and over the ice in wintertime. In 1959 my father acquired the neighbouring Abramsby land, doubling the size of our farm. The first Hereford cattle arrived in 1975. In 1988 the farm transferred from my father to me, and together with my wife we began farming full time. In the early 1990s we exchanged some coastal land that was protected by the Natura ecological network for additional farmland.

Antti Herlin served as CEO of KONE Corporation, one of the world’s leading elevator and escalator companies, from 1996 to 2006, and he is still the main shareholder of the company. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of both KONE and the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK).
 
Today Thorsvik Manor has around 300 hectares of farmland, of which 50 hectares are meadows and 250 hectares are arable land. The farm also has over 400 hectares of cultivated forest. A reflection of the unique geology of the region, the farm also has around 100 hectares of pure granite. The daily routines are overseen by Farm Manager Paavo Kuuluvainen, who is assisted by two other employees.

Breeding lessons
from the USA

As a young man Antti Herlin travelled to the USA to study animal science. He subsequently applied this knowledge to the farm’s Hereford cattle.

“When I returned from the States it was gratifying to note how the lessons I learned there produced results. For example, the performance recording system employed by the Finnish Animal Breeding Association back then was still rather primitive. I was probably the first European member to join the US Hereford Association performance recording system, which was the most highly developed. Since then our system has also been brought up to date.”

“We sourced our animals from abroad. In the 1980s, 210 kilos was considered a good slaughter weight in Finland. The average slaughter weight on our farm was almost 400 kilos. The productivity of both beef and dairy cattle has increased enormously in recent decades. For example, the output of Finnish dairy cows has doubled from around 5000 kilos to almost 10,000 kilos. This is partially due to changes in feed and handling, but also to the improved genetic makeup of these animals through breeding.”

When he began buying Hereford cattle, Herlin also found himself with judging duties.

“I was in England buying animals years ago, and apparently the sellers thought I knew what I was looking for because they invited me toact as a judge. Judges who are still in their twenties are a rare sight in cattle shows. Since then I have continued to judge, for example in Denmark, Sweden and Finland.”

Herlin has participated previously in the World Hereford Conference in Spain, South Africa, the USA and Argentina.

“As a young farmer I was attracted by the international perspective. There is always lots to talk about at these conferences. Especially when many of the delegates are using the same, world famous breeding animals. Furthermore, conditions vary around the world, even though the industry is the same. For example, at the first conference a breeder from Chile asked me how we keep the drinking water from freezing. When I explained what kinds of electrical resistors we use, the Chilean interrupted and said that electricity was unavailable in his pastures.”

One of the most important lessons that Antti Herlin learned in the USA was the attitude towards work.

“When I first went there I considered Finnish farmers to be hard working folk, but American farmers showed what really hard work is like.”

Thorsvik ready
to receive its guests

Thorsvik currently has around 50 breeding cows. Ten years ago the farm had almost 200 cows, but their numbers have since been reduced in order to grow more crops. Cereal crops are more convenient in terms of environmental permits, takes up less time and provides a reasonable income these days. The farm still has a few Aberdeen Angus beef cattle, but it is not sourcing more. The animals are sold in Finland and elsewhere in Northern Europe. Thorsvik’s Herefords have won numerous awards in competition. 

Antti Herlin admits that he has always been very partial to Valtra tractors. His company KONE Corporation even owned Valtra for a short period in 2002 and 2003.

“When I was young I drove a Valmet 502, which was a really good and agile tractor, and a Valmet 903, which I guess had too much power for its transmission. We now have a Valtra T160, a Valtra 6550 and a 30-year-old Valmet-Cafeeiro that was made in Brazil. My father in fact bought it new from Brazil with the help of the managing director of Valmet at the time; he couldn’t find any other tractor that would fit inside our old barn. Work safety officials later made us fit a safety cab, after which it no longer fit inside the building,” Herlin remembers.

Tiina and Antti Herlin are hosting a World Hereford Conference pretour visit on 22 June. Antti Herlin will also chair the conference in Copenhagen from 29 June to 1 July. Valtra is the main sponsor of the World Hereford Conference.

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