Baby boomers in the United Kingdom will recall the Ayrshire cows as a part of the landscape, before the Friesian invasion of the early sixties, followed by the Holsteins in the eighties.
According to farmers in Scotland and even Prince Charles down on his farm a High-grove in Gloucester, the Ayrshire has far more merits than the other two breeds, despite producing less milk.
The Ayrshire eats less and is less particular about the food it eats. The Ayrshire when its milking and breeding days are over, will give the farmer a good little beef cow to sell, as the BSE restrictions ease and will eventually be lifted.
They are more hardy to winter conditions and can be left on pasture longer, with a little hand feeding.
All in all the future of the Ayrshire cow may come into its own simply on the value of the bull calves, that can be fattened into intensive veal with fast growth and good conformation
