Kevin O’Brien, Barnaboy

Turloughmore, Athenry, Co Galway

The farm

I’m full time farming on 45 acres, of which 30 would be rented. Land would be good dry limestone land.

The herd

I’m breeding all pedigree Aubracs, with 37 cows currently on farm.

Stock bull/AI

I AI 90% of the herd and then use a bull to mop up. At the moment I’m using a homebred bull to mop up. He was the reserve bull for the Gene Ireland programme. This year I got Turloughmore Magnificent into that programme and semen should be available in January. Eurogene also purchased a bull from me, Turloughmore Majestic. He had five stars on most attributes when they bought him.

The breed

I got into the Aubrac breed because when I researched them I found them to be easy calving, easy finished, hardy animals that would require less work. To me they tick all the boxes. They have great terminal and replacements indexes. It’s only of late that people are starting to get to know the breed, but both dairy and suckler farmers are now starting to use it.

Sales

I sell a lot of stock at home but also attend the premiers in April and October. It was mostly bulls until now but I’m also selling heifers at these sales now too. Bull sales would nearly be split 50/50 with regard to those that go to the dairy market and suckler market.

BDGP

My cows ticked all the boxes already so it was an easy decision to join. I do think however that the dairy element is too strong and would like to see it made that you have to have a 75% beef animal to be part of the scheme.

Breeding Key Performance Indicators

Average cow replacement index: €153.

Average replacement index one year plus: €147.

Calves per cow per year: 0.98.

Calving Interval: 371 days.

% heifers calves 22-26 months: 0.

% of AI calves: 30%.

Harte farms, Leonardsisland,

Clones, Co Monaghan

Douglas Barr, Harte Farms farm manager

The farm

There are currently 274 acres being farmed, of which 124 are owned. The farm is divided in the way that it’s all two day paddocks with the option to be subdivided if needs be. At the moment 90% of the grass is less than five years old.

The herd

Cow numbers stand at 122. Fifteen of these are pedigree Limousin, 10 pedigree Simmentals, five pedigree Charolais, two pedigree Hereford, two pedigree Parthenaise and the newest addition is a pedigree Angus. The remaining numbers are all commercial.

Commercial cattle produce calves suitable to sell as weanlings or can also be taken to beef. Some of the commercial heifers in recent years have been used as recipients in our embryo transfer programme.

Stock bull/AI

We have three stock bulls on farm, two Limousin and one Simmental. These are basically all for the commercial herd and just to mop up the odd pedigree cow.

Bulls are purchased on both stars and pedigree. We use AI for all the pedigree cows.

Replacements

Since the first pedigree stock was only introduced in 2016, so far majority of replacements have been bought in but now our own bred heifers are starting to come through.

Sales

We are starting to bring bulls to society sales now as well as selling some at home. Business model going forward is to build on repeat customers by breeding bulls the suckler farmer wants.

WHPR

We see it as a good thing. It’s not perfect but at least it’s somebody independent coming in to see what you’re doing is right.

Future

We would like to see pedigree cattle numbers increase to 80-90 cows, with pedigree heifers coming through to replace the commercial cattle.

Breeding Key Performance Indicators

Average cow Replacement Index: €84.

Average replacement index 1 year plus: €76.

Calves/cow/year: 0.75.

Calving Interval: 422 days.

% heifers calves 22-26 months: 0.

Percentage of AI calves: 36%.

Anthony Dockery, Carrow,

Elphin, Co Roscommon

The farm

I farm 33ha part-time, with the majority of this leased long-term. My brother Louis would help me out along with my wife Julie and her son Aaran.

The herd

The herd is mostly pedigree Shorthorn and Angus but we also run three or four commercials to breed the odd Blue grey heifer. We run a total of 30 cows, with the Shorthorn breed making up 18 of these.

Stock bull/AI

We are using a bit of AI but also have two stock bulls. I bought the Angus bull at the Elite sale in Carrick last December. The Shorthorn bull was a bull I bred myself and bought back as a mature bull having seen his progeny.

Replacements

It’s nearly a closed herd so no females would really be bought in. I like to follow family lines within the herd.

Sales

We aim to sell our stock at the premier sales, so autumn and spring for the Shorthorns and different times then for the Angus. I like to have cashflow coming in all year round. We would also sell a share of stock at home out of the yard. Last year, we sold 22 animals to average €1,993.

BDGP

For me the BDGP was a no-brainer. My cows had no problem hitting the targets set out so there were no big changes to be made.

I suppose I’m lucky in the fact that I have breeds that suit the scheme whereas maybe other breeds don’t.

Stars

When you have stars you’re in favour of them and when you don’t you don’t like them. When I’m buying a bull it does give me reassurance if he has stars but saying that if I don’t like the bull it doesn’t matter how many stars he has.

Breeding Key Performance Indicators

Average cow replacement index: €107

Average replacement index one year plus: €110

Calves per cow per year: 0.88

Calving interval: 379 days

% heifers calves 22-26 months: 0

Percentage of AI calves: 52%