This week sees the start of the International Belgian Blue Congress, which this year is being held on Irish soil. The first herd being visited by a bus of 52 international visitors, as part of the conference, is that of Tommy and Pauline Fitzgerald, Clonaslee, Co Laois. Ably assisted by their two children, Orla and Ciaran, the Heatherview herd this year celebrates its 20th year since establishment.

Having farmed commercials in Clonaslee for a number of years before pedigree breeding, Tommy and wife Pauline knew exactly what they were getting into, having used a Blue bull in the herd for many years before that.

“We went about setting up a purebred herd in 1996. We purchased two embryos from Champion embryos. We implanted two and got two calves, one bull and one heifer, 100% conception, which was nearly unheard of back then,” said Tommy.

These embryos were from the owner of champion embryos, Richard Duff’s own pedigree Blue herd at the time. The consequential heifer embryo calf was named Heatherview Olivia and formed the backbone of the now recognised Heatherview herd.

“Since day one, embryos played a huge part in the development of the herd, and as soon as we could, we flushed Olivia. We currently have 15 pedigree Belgian Blue cows, which produce 25 calves per year with embryo calves included, as we generally flush the best cow each year,” Tommy said.

All implanted embryos for the herd go into Hereford cross recipients. Due to the muscle of the calf and the smaller body of the Hereford cross, C-sections are performed on all recipients. However, unlike some other pure Blue herds, Tommy allows some of the cows to calve naturally depending on the sire used.

Best cow

“Our best cow would have to be Heatherview Comfort. She did exceptionally well on the show circuit for us, winning the overall championship at both Tullamore and the Beef Expo back in 2010. She’s also breeding very well, she is the dam of the 2014 All-Ireland Belgian Blue senior champion Heatherview Gent,” he said.

There are no second chances here

The best cows don’t happen by accident with the family implementing a strict culling process across the whole herd. “We breed all animals once, and if we’re not happy with the calf, then we cull. There are no second chances here,” Tommy added.

Tommy explained that he is a firm believer in the philosophy of quality over quantity, in relation to increasing herd size and does not see any big expansions down the line.

Sales

As with most pedigree herds, premier sales play a huge part in the herd’s success, with the Heatherview prefix claiming many top accolades in both the spring and autumn premiers.

“With the strict culling policy we run and trying to keep the best to breed, we haven’t sold many females from the herd yet. As for the bulls, while we sell a lot at home, we would always show our top pedigree bulls at Tullamore in October and March. 2010 was our best year to date. We got champion and reserve males at the premier in March, which went on to sell for €7,400 each. We sold our highest price bull, Heatherview Cooper, at the autumn premier in October for €8,300. To top it off, Heatherview Comfort was crowned the overall Tullamore Blue champion – our first and only overall champion at the show,” Tommy said.

The pedigree herd is run alongside a 60 strong head of commercial cattle made up of mostly Limousin and Blonde cross cows.

While all AI is run on the pedigree herd, a Blue stock bull is also run with the commercial herd.

“These cows are first or second cross from the dairy herd, and the top end of calves make it for shipping, showing just how much the Blue can add to the commercial herd. The rest we are now going to kill through the new Belgian Blue producer group set up by the society.

‘‘Through this, we can get bonuses for bulls and females without being penalised on weight as limits for the scheme are 400kg for heifers and 500kg for bulls.”

Tommy accepts the point that the BDGP scheme might not necessarily work in the breed’s favour but still sees a very bright future for the breed.

“It’s a breed which can work in both the commercial and dairy herds. No other breed can inject the muscle that a Blue can across the commercial herd. For the dairy herd, with pressure on milk prices, men seem to be using Blues for easy calving and short gestation. This is driven too by the Blue calf prices.”

This week marks the first time the international conference has made it to Irish soil. To see a country which produces less than 500 pedigree Belgian Blue calves a year as a host country is a testament to the society and its committed breeders.