Since the Irish Farmers Journal last met Brendan Regan in December 2013, Coney Island Genetics has gone from strength to strength.

“We are the only Department- and EU-approved semen collection centre that carries out on-farm and privately owned bull semen collection. So I am inundated with enquiries and orders, often having to turn down orders. At the minute, I have six months of orders on my books,” said Brendan.

The service which Brendan provides can be broken down into a number of categories. Firstly, he can collect semen from bulls on-farm which can subsequently be frozen and stored. However, this semen is not saleable and can only be used in that herd.

“On-farm collection is going very well. I see a lot of dairy and commercial men are beginning to use my service as they now see how much of a cost-effective service it is as opposed to purchasing AI straws.

“For example, I collected a huge volume of straws off a Saler bull for a dairy farmer in Kerry. He was purchasing straws at €15 each whereas my straws were costing just €1. Farmers are now seeing the huge cost benefit that is available to them.”

Secondly, the bull can also be transported to Coney Island Genetics’ yard to go through a quarantine and testing procedure. Again, the semen will be collected, frozen and stored, with the bull generally in stud for between six and eight weeks including quarantine time. Semen that has been taken from a bull that goes through this procedure can be sold anywhere in the EU and further affield.

Finally, Brendan carries out a mobile fertility testing service, which analyses semen quality of bulls on farm.

“In 2014, I acquired and was trained in the use of a bull semen analyser from Israel. This machine gives a detailed and highly accurate print-out on the fertility, motility, quality and morphology of a bull’s semen. As the human eye evaluation method is not 100% accurate, I decided to purchase this equipment which carries out all evaluations with complete accuracy.”

Over the past few years, Coney Island Genetics has handled and jumped some of the top bulls across a range of breeds. Some bulls recently in stud include the 55,000gns Limousin bull Aultside Hulk, Balmoral interbreed and Shorthorn champion Lowtown Ireland and Carrigroe Mr Rebel, last year’s all-Ireland Angus champion. With such high-profile jumps being undertaken at the stud, interest has increased massively, within and more recently outside Ireland.

“We are commencing a substantial contract with an international genetics company. This company has purchased a number of top-quality bulls across a number of breeds within Ireland. All of the bulls in the contract will be housed permanently in Coney Island Genetics, where the semen will be collected and exported through Dunmasc Genetics on a monthly basis.”

Local veterinarian John Finnegan is the vet charged with overseeing the standards, testing hygiene and welfare of the stud.

March 2016 saw the start of a new era in Coney Island’s history when Brendan purchased Towra Munchkin to jump and sell semen off.

This young Angus bull is sired by well-known Luddenmore Fionn and claimed the reserve all-Ireland Aldi Angus bull calf championship in 2015.

Brendan is currently distributing Munchkin’s semen through Worldwide Sires, describing sales as “going well, with a lot of interest within the Angus pedigree circle”.