Driftwood Belted Galloways in Awendaw, South Carolina, (near Charleston) is a farm devoted to raising quality performance-texted beef cattle. About 300 acres abutting the salt marsh comprise the grazing land for this Beltie operation owned by Sue Drew. The cow herd consists of approximately 200 head of registered performance-tested Belted Galloways.

Our location enables us to provide green grazing pretty much year round. The herd’s diet consists of either green grazing through in the normal growing season, or planted green grazing in the fall and winter months with supplemental hay. Creep feed is used to supplement the younger animals’ diets and a small amount of feed is used for ease of handling the herd to enhance management capabilities. Potential show and sale cattle are fed grain to help them reach their full potential.

Driftwood has an extensive health program. The cattle are tested for Johne’s Leukosis and BVD type I & II, as well as Brucellosis. Driftwood calfhood vaccinates all heifer calves as well as annually updating our pertinent vaccines.

We feel that producing new genetics is very important for the breed. Artificial insemination, finding good out-cross bulls and upbreeding all are helping us to attain this goal, which we feel is a necessity in the Belted Galloway breed.

South Carolina’s temperature in the summer reaches 100 degrees, with humidity factors usually well into the high 90’s. A combination that makes the furry Scottish-bred Belties quite uncomfortable. We have managed to solve this to a great extent by incorporating a water system that provides clean water to canals, various sized ponds for cattle to access as needed, along with a simple sprinkler system set up in smaller enclosed areas around the handling facility.

Perhaps Driftwood’s overall goal is to evaluate the Belted Galloway breed in the same manner as other beef breeds. This means that we keep record of birth weights, calving scores, calving intervals, weaning weights, yearling weights, and other important criteria. Dedication to the goals and intense management allow us to breed and measure our Belted Galloway herd in such a way to help prove that the Belties can be a “viable” option, especially in a niche environment.