It was interesting to note comments from Bord Bia that it expects a recovery in live cattle exports this year. Considering that live exports of weanlings and stores were collectively 43% lower in 2015, this is certainly welcome news from Bord Bia.

Italy has been a traditional market for the top-quality Belgian Blue and Limousin weanling. For a good few years, I was targeting this market with a good percentage of Belgian Blue AI straws used on the suckler cows.

I have always liked the Blue animal for its muscle and docility and I never had too much calving difficulty with them. No more so than any other breed and a big calf is a big calf, no matter what breed.

Belgian Blue

In recent years, however, I have moved away from the Belgian Blue for a number of reasons. One reason was that I felt there were too many Blues being produced thereby increasing supply, which was leading to a reduced price premium over other breeds.

Another reason was that I was limiting the amount of replacement heifers I could bring into the herd. As I was using Belgian Blue straws on my top cows and producing heifers more suited to becoming beef than cows, this limited my choice of heifers to breed from.

In recent years, as I am trying to increase the size of the suckler herd, I have moved more towards using Salers and maternal Limousin AI straws along with the Salers stock bull. This has given me more choice in terms of replacement heifers and will also leave a surplus of heifers, which can be sold for breeding.

This weekend, all calves on the farm received their Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR) vaccination. This is a simple intramuscular injection that costs around €2.20 per animal to administer. If the calf is only to put on 10kg extra due to the vaccination, then I am in profit to the tune of about €20 per animal. A wise investment.

Health status

While this increase in the value of the weanling may be difficult to see initially on an individual animal, the overall health and reputation of the herd should improve. This should lead to increased buyer interest in my weanlings, while I benefit from increased price per kilo and kilos produced on the farm.

Whether the buyer is finishing stock for selling to Irish meat processors, or the buyer is an exporter to the Italian market, a healthy animal is vital to their business. With Irish animals now receiving favourable mention in Italy for their health status, should I consider looking again at the Blue section of the AI catalogue?

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