I farm: “Twenty-five pedigree and commercial Salers sucklers on 22ha of owned and rented land with my father Martin. I bought my first pedigree heifer in 2019 and our plan is to phase out the commercials altogether.”

System: “This year we used 100% AI and had everything bulled in six weeks. Our calving interval has gone to 350 days from 390 originally. We’re predominantly spring-calving but have a few pedigrees calving in autumn too to have bulls right to sell at 16 months. Working off farm as well, with the Salers calving, you’ve the confidence to leave them do the job.”

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Salers: “We’ve mountain land so the cattle need to be hardy to thrive in harsh conditions. With the way input prices have gone, I wanted to save on vet bills and meal for calves to make up weight. We find the cow does that herself and only with a small bit of meal for BEEP, the calves have put on massive weights. We’ll sell most as weanlings but we’ll keep a nice bunch of heifers to see how they turn out in the spring.”

Fodder: “We use our rented, better quality land to make silage. Last year we housed everything and we’ll do the same again this year. We’ll try keep feed down except a small bit of concentrate for the heifers.”

MFW

Society: “I got involved as a council member with the Salers Cattle Society of Ireland this year. The Ploughing was my first time with them and we’d a blend of old and new members there. We’ve our next pedigree sale in Gort Mart on 15 October and I’m hoping to start on the show circuit next year with a few heifers.”

Future: “My two-year-old son Tadhg is showing great interest in the cows at the moment. I’d like to leave something sustainable and profitable for the next generation, even if it’s part-time.”