The Bostonia Charolais herd farmed outside Enniscrone, Co Sligo, has enjoyed phenomenal success throughout its first three years. Established in 2013 by Brendan and Greg Feeney, the herd has invested in both top-quality facilities and genetics, with all original lines brought into the farm through embryo transfer.
Darragh McManus who manages the farm for the Feeney brothers, with the help of Niall Hynes and Pat Golden, explains how the foundation females were picked and some of the standout lines.
“The original lines which came into the farm would’ve done so through embryo transfer, from dams which were handpicked from the well-known Maerdy herd in Wales. Thirty were implanted each year since 2013, which has given us nearly half and half females, but only the best are being kept to go on to make cows. The first of these females born from the embryos would’ve calved this year, with a number then flushed once they calved.
“Altogether, there were around 15 natural calvings this year on top of the 30 embryos, but we also run a commercial herd alongside the pedigrees. The commercial herd is made up of 40 Limousin cross and Simmental cross heifers that were scanned in calf to high replacement index bulls.
‘‘The aim of these is to produce top-quality weanlings from our own bulls to showcase what exactly our own bred bulls can do in a suckler herd, so commercial men can see for themselves.
“One of the standout female lines is Enniscrone Fiona from local breeder Ronan Gallagher. She is a prolific breeder sired by Major, who has bred a number of great young heifers and bulls.
‘‘There’s also Maerdy Entry, a Padirac daughter, who has bred a number of champions including the overall champion at the Tullamore sale last month. She also bred the reserve senior champion at the Cracker in 2014 who sold for €8,200.
“That was probably the herd’s best day out. It secured the junior championship and top price of €10,200 with Bostonia Indigo, a Maerdy Ffolant son, the reserve senior championship with Invincible and sold six bulls to average €6,650,” Darragh said.
While this was the herd’s most successful sale, it certainly was not the last, with numerous breed and interbreed championships collected at both summer and national shows, along with society sales.
The most recent success was claiming overall male championship at the last society sale in Tullamore with Bostonia Lorenzo 2 ET, who later sold for €5,100.
As the herd grows, Darragh continues to select for type but, more importantly, what the market requires.
“We’re aiming to breed something that looks good, is easy calved, easy fleshed and works for both the Charolais and pedigree herd owner, working heavily on female lines to do it. Charolais seemed to be tarred with the one brush as hard-calving, so easy-calving is one of the main traits we look at. We also tend to look more at 200- and 400-day weights than 600 to finish them a bit quicker. A lot of bulls produce cattle which can’t be finished in time. This isn’t what the customer wants and we’re trying to breed for them.
“It’s all AI here but that’s not to say we wouldn’t buy a stock bull if we found the right one. We are currently using older bulls, such as CF52 and Pirate, because of the star ratings and because of how popular they are when selling. We are also using the likes of Davally Illusion and Whitecliffe James from the UK,’’ Darragh says.
While the herd breeds form what is thought to be the best available lines, only animals that meet a strict criteria will go on to be sold. Heifers failing to meet the mark for breed character, functionality or quality will be run as stores, while all bulls remain entire and any failing to meet the mark will be slaughtered under 16 months. “I like to stick by one line when breeding stock. Sell the best, keep the very best and kill the rest,” Darragh adds.
“The Charolais was chosen at Bostonia because they are good cattle and one of the most popular breeds in both Ireland and Europe. Their calves carry great strength in every mart, especially over here in the west.
“I think the breed has to look at getting more functional cattle, concentrating on milk and easy-calving in females. Breeders need to sacrifice the odd bad bull to breed a good heifer or cow, but the problem is a lot of herds are made up of only four or five cows so they can’t really. The society has worked hard in making this happen by getting high replacement bulls into AI.
‘‘The breed faces challenges for the future, but if we stick with it, it will level out again,’’ Darragh says.
The next big day out for the herd will be at the Charolais Cracker in Elphin this Saturday. This is the biggest Charolais show and sale of the year, with 114 males and 45 females on offer.
The Bostonia Charolais herd farmed outside Enniscrone, Co Sligo, has enjoyed phenomenal success throughout its first three years. Established in 2013 by Brendan and Greg Feeney, the herd has invested in both top-quality facilities and genetics, with all original lines brought into the farm through embryo transfer.
Darragh McManus who manages the farm for the Feeney brothers, with the help of Niall Hynes and Pat Golden, explains how the foundation females were picked and some of the standout lines.
“The original lines which came into the farm would’ve done so through embryo transfer, from dams which were handpicked from the well-known Maerdy herd in Wales. Thirty were implanted each year since 2013, which has given us nearly half and half females, but only the best are being kept to go on to make cows. The first of these females born from the embryos would’ve calved this year, with a number then flushed once they calved.
“Altogether, there were around 15 natural calvings this year on top of the 30 embryos, but we also run a commercial herd alongside the pedigrees. The commercial herd is made up of 40 Limousin cross and Simmental cross heifers that were scanned in calf to high replacement index bulls.
‘‘The aim of these is to produce top-quality weanlings from our own bulls to showcase what exactly our own bred bulls can do in a suckler herd, so commercial men can see for themselves.
“One of the standout female lines is Enniscrone Fiona from local breeder Ronan Gallagher. She is a prolific breeder sired by Major, who has bred a number of great young heifers and bulls.
‘‘There’s also Maerdy Entry, a Padirac daughter, who has bred a number of champions including the overall champion at the Tullamore sale last month. She also bred the reserve senior champion at the Cracker in 2014 who sold for €8,200.
“That was probably the herd’s best day out. It secured the junior championship and top price of €10,200 with Bostonia Indigo, a Maerdy Ffolant son, the reserve senior championship with Invincible and sold six bulls to average €6,650,” Darragh said.
While this was the herd’s most successful sale, it certainly was not the last, with numerous breed and interbreed championships collected at both summer and national shows, along with society sales.
The most recent success was claiming overall male championship at the last society sale in Tullamore with Bostonia Lorenzo 2 ET, who later sold for €5,100.
As the herd grows, Darragh continues to select for type but, more importantly, what the market requires.
“We’re aiming to breed something that looks good, is easy calved, easy fleshed and works for both the Charolais and pedigree herd owner, working heavily on female lines to do it. Charolais seemed to be tarred with the one brush as hard-calving, so easy-calving is one of the main traits we look at. We also tend to look more at 200- and 400-day weights than 600 to finish them a bit quicker. A lot of bulls produce cattle which can’t be finished in time. This isn’t what the customer wants and we’re trying to breed for them.
“It’s all AI here but that’s not to say we wouldn’t buy a stock bull if we found the right one. We are currently using older bulls, such as CF52 and Pirate, because of the star ratings and because of how popular they are when selling. We are also using the likes of Davally Illusion and Whitecliffe James from the UK,’’ Darragh says.
While the herd breeds form what is thought to be the best available lines, only animals that meet a strict criteria will go on to be sold. Heifers failing to meet the mark for breed character, functionality or quality will be run as stores, while all bulls remain entire and any failing to meet the mark will be slaughtered under 16 months. “I like to stick by one line when breeding stock. Sell the best, keep the very best and kill the rest,” Darragh adds.
“The Charolais was chosen at Bostonia because they are good cattle and one of the most popular breeds in both Ireland and Europe. Their calves carry great strength in every mart, especially over here in the west.
“I think the breed has to look at getting more functional cattle, concentrating on milk and easy-calving in females. Breeders need to sacrifice the odd bad bull to breed a good heifer or cow, but the problem is a lot of herds are made up of only four or five cows so they can’t really. The society has worked hard in making this happen by getting high replacement bulls into AI.
‘‘The breed faces challenges for the future, but if we stick with it, it will level out again,’’ Darragh says.
The next big day out for the herd will be at the Charolais Cracker in Elphin this Saturday. This is the biggest Charolais show and sale of the year, with 114 males and 45 females on offer. 
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