While many spring-calving suckler herds will not require stock bulls until May at the earliest, it’s good to start looking in time and bring yourself up to speed with breeding at upcoming pedigree sales and it will also guide you on how much you will need to spend to secure a good bull.
While BDGP has made farmers more aware of figures, you still shouldn’t stray from the core principles of buying a good animal. Ask yourself some key questions. Is he good on his feet? Is he over-conditioned? What is testicle size like? Is he fertility tested?
While many sales operate pre-sale inspections, it’s important that you give the bull a good once-over before purchase. It’s a big investment and you need to get it right. Take a look at the bloodlines behind the bull and see if any names pop out that you are familiar with. Try and have the bull on farm at least six weeks prior to time needed in order to acclimatise him to your farm and the new diet.
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The bull search tool on the ICBF website is a very useful tool, login to www.icbf.com and enter the tag number of the bull and his figures will come up. Once a bull has four or five stars in any box at the top of the catalogue page, he is eligible for the BDGP programme. Four- and five-star terminal bulls qualify as well as maternal. Take a look at calving difficulty and avoid excessive difficulty – it’s not worth it.
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While many spring-calving suckler herds will not require stock bulls until May at the earliest, it’s good to start looking in time and bring yourself up to speed with breeding at upcoming pedigree sales and it will also guide you on how much you will need to spend to secure a good bull.
While BDGP has made farmers more aware of figures, you still shouldn’t stray from the core principles of buying a good animal. Ask yourself some key questions. Is he good on his feet? Is he over-conditioned? What is testicle size like? Is he fertility tested?
While many sales operate pre-sale inspections, it’s important that you give the bull a good once-over before purchase. It’s a big investment and you need to get it right. Take a look at the bloodlines behind the bull and see if any names pop out that you are familiar with. Try and have the bull on farm at least six weeks prior to time needed in order to acclimatise him to your farm and the new diet.
The bull search tool on the ICBF website is a very useful tool, login to www.icbf.com and enter the tag number of the bull and his figures will come up. Once a bull has four or five stars in any box at the top of the catalogue page, he is eligible for the BDGP programme. Four- and five-star terminal bulls qualify as well as maternal. Take a look at calving difficulty and avoid excessive difficulty – it’s not worth it.
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