David Pearson from Coolbally in Co Laois established the Boherard Belgian Blue herd in 1989 when he purchased his first female at a sale in Naas from Michael Maher. Soon after, David aimed to expand the herd and travelled to Belgium where he acquired another heifer, purchasing some embryos from Tom Foynes, Castlecuff herd, at the same time.

These initial purchases have stood to David well, achieving many top accolades over the years. When I spoke to David about some of the achievements that stood out for him, he was quick to inform me about Boherard Cantonna. David sold Cantonna to the Fabroca AI station in Belgium. The owner, Benoit Cassart, purchased Cantonna and his full brother with the goal of obtaining semen from at least one of the bulls. Boherard Cantonna’s semen was later imported back into Ireland and distributed through Dovea.

This kickstarted a number of top-end pedigree sales including two more to AI. Boherard Cian sold to Bova and all-Ireland champion Boherard Hurricane is currently standing in Dovea. David is lucky enough to have bred a huge number of all-Ireland winners in his time with pedigree Belgian Blues. Winning the RDS Belgian Blue champion of champions for three years is something he is very proud of.

Selection

“My best cow family stems from Boherard Alison. This Blak Du Baty-sired cow was the 2009 all-Ireland champion and her first calf on the ground was Boherard Cantonna.

“Her maternal sister won Tullamore in 2012 as an in-calf heifer and in 2014 with a calf at foot. One of Alison’s daughters, Boherard Euro, then won in Tullamore in 2013.”

When selecting his sires, David goes to Belgium twice a year. There, he selects bulls which he thinks will work best on his cows.

“While I go to Belgium to pick a number of bulls to use, I also select semen from bulls available through Irish AI stations.

“This year, I’m using bulls such as Manequin, Or, Sauveur De Monin Chapelle, Kubitus De Bray, Crack Du Pont Du Messe, and some from my own bull Boherard Hurricane.” David also uses older bulls’ semen in a bid to produce an outcross pedigree, which would be of interest to AI.

David owns 60 cattle, with a little less than half being pedigree. “All commercials on the farm are there for the purpose of embryo transfer whether they’re reared to carry embryos or to rear calves to carry embryos. I find this is the best option for disease purposes and I find they actually tend to hold the embryos better when you rear them on your own farm”.

David mainly looks for size and length in his animals, followed by correctness with as much muscle as he can get after that. “I don’t believe in small cows. I have very big, long cows. All my cows weigh over 1,000kg. If you have a small muscly Belgian Blue cow, it’s very hard to breed a bull with size.”

Summer shows

“If you’re producing top-quality pedigree cattle you need to bring them out to shows, because if people can’t see them how will they know what sort of stock you’re breeding?

“I target the summer shows. By presenting my animals there, I often see people come to my farm at a later date to buy stock. I see the summer shows as my shop window really.”

2016 was another great year for the Boherard herd with David doing very well at shows around the country. “In 2016, I had the reserve all-Ireland bull calf in Tinahely claiming the champion September heifer calf class on the same day. Two weeks later in Tullamore, I won the cow class and had the reserve male champion with a February-born Gitan bull calf. In the all-Ireland junior bull class, a bull that I bred and sold last year was the champion, with my own bull getting the reserve champion. These bulls, Boherard IPad and Boherard Index, were Attributt (AFF)-sired and were full brothers.”

Future

“We’re at a difficult time here with the star ratings and the rate shipping is hitting the breed hard at the minute. We have a niche animal, but we are currently not able to get a niche price.”

When David spoke to me about the breed and its development into the future, he strongly felt that more farmers should be feeding Belgian Blue cattle for finishing in this country. “I think there are not enough farmers feeding Belgian Blue cattle. The farmers that are feeding them are seeing the true potential of the breed. The results speak for themselves. They’re a short-gestation breed with a very good kill-out percentage. Their feed conversion rate is very good. If you feed them right, you will turn them into meat, not fat like some other breeds. The Belgian Blue society has started a producer group for these animals and is offering a premium in Ashbourne Meats.”

When I spoke to David regarding star ratings, it was something he spoke passionately about. “The biggest challenge facing me and my farm is the ICBF. I’m breeding pedigree Belgian Blue cattle for a good number of years and I know my cattle. My cows are winning many shows, they’re very good cows. I go to Belgium and I select the bulls to best suit my cows. The result is very good bulls that are also winning many shows. These go on to breed top-quality weanlings for export, and cattle for finishing in this country, but the ICBF is telling me on paper, they’re not.”

David speaks strongly when he says people need to realise that it is far more important to look at the animal visually and its pedigree information than judging an animal on its star rating. “Young farmers these days are weighting everything on the star ratings and not looking at the animal itself or its pedigree background. In my opinion, this is the wrong way to go.

“I will keep doing what I’m doing and try to always produce the best quality animals that I can,’’ David says.