Turning 30-years-old this year, the Roughan Charolais herd has made quite a name for itself, particularly in recent years. “We started up the Charolais herd back in 1988. It was always commercial Charolais up here, I just loved the breed so I got into the pedigrees then,” Pat McClean said.

Pat felt that by purchasing foundation females in Ireland, you only got what other breeders didn’t want, so the decision was made to go back to the home of the breed to acquire starting stock.

“I went over to France the first year and brought in cows, a stock bull and a young bull as well. It was a contact that I knew in France that set me up and I’ve been dealing with her since.

“It’s the home of them over there. Saying that, everything I bought in France wasn’t all good, but it gave me a strong foundation to work from.

Pat McClean, Roughan Charolais.

“Then I would’ve bought a couple of different herds in Ireland out; three herds of 30 or so. I bought all those and they weren’t all good either, but with every 30, you got probably 10 good ones.

“The buy-outs were in the early 1990s, so we went up fast, which is good because you can select and be more thorough with your culling.”

What makes McLean’s Roughan herd that bit different from other pedigree Charolais herds in Ireland is the use of French stock bulls on all stock.

Throughout the country, Charolais cattle that hit the top mark are usually as a result of AI. However, through careful selection of the correct bulls, the Roughan herd has changed that tradition.

“The first maybe 10 years it was very hard to get off the ground because it took a while to get known and promoted. You’re competing with AI and the farmers are more reassured with AI.

“They’re afraid of the stock bull because it’s unknown you see. Even now, people are still prepared to buy what they know.”

With such an emphasis on bull power, Pat has invested heavily over the years to ensure he gets the bull he wants.

“I find the bull more consistent. Even if I was to go AI, there’s not much for Charolais breeders at the moment. It’s a very limited gene pool.

“I’d go over to France every year to buy a bull. I have two coming in now again in March.

“These bulls, I bought them in last July and they were only March-born, only a few months old. All the bulls I would’ve bought would have been less than six months.

“If you don’t buy them over there when they’re young, you don’t get them. Other breeders will have them snapped up. If a senior bull looks well, you will probably never get it.

“The first things I look for are quality and width; I like width. Then short gestation, easy calving. Nice and soft, quiet and milk if you can get it. I would never really buy a bull unless I’d seen the mother. I think the cow is more important than the bull; I’d put 60% of the outcome on how good the female is and 40% on the bull.”

Through the years, Pat highlights one bull that stood out among the rest.

“I usually go to one herd first, the Merlets. They’re the people I’m friendly with. They know what I want and sometimes we would by bulls together.

“I gave €30,000 for bulls in France, but that one only cost me €15,000 because we would share. He was Roughan Very Good. He bred excellent and he was very lucky, leaving a lot of good cows. Very Good’s mother was Paris champion four years running and his sire Pacha was also a Paris champion. He was definitely the stand-out.

“Roughan Ultimatum, Viceroy and Unique all left their mark too. Them four bulls put me on the map, they really left their stamp on cattle.

“Even in France, it’s getting hard for me to find something now, because they don’t want as much muscle as we want.”

Bull sales contribute to the majority of the farm income, with only a small percentage of heifers sold for pedigree use. In all, about 40 or so bulls would be sold off farm a year, with a further 10% of the annual crop being sold for slaughter.

This year marked a special year for the herd when its first heifer brought to auction went on to sell for the top price across all beef breeds in 2017.

“We mostly keep heifers and cull about 10% of the calf crop for factory a year. Bulls would be killed at about 18 months, with some of them pushing on 600kg. The factories aren’t too fond of it, but when they’re looking for cattle, there’s nothing said.

“At sales, €10,500 was my top for the bulls about four years ago. I’ve got a good few €10,500 since and sold a good few at €10,000 at home as well. We would sell about 16 at sales every year, with the rest private sales. We are only 10 miles from the Northern Ireland border, so a good share of the home sales would come from northern buyers.

“One of the highlights to date was definitely last year getting €14,500 for Roughan Madilin. That was the first ever heifer I had out at the sales.

“I never really bothered showing up until this year, but it definitely helped make a profile for Madilin.

“She was overall champion in Clonmany and had being seen by a few people at that before the sale.

“Madilin is out of a nine-year-old bull on farm, Roughan Dix De Coe. His dam was a very good cow. She also bred Agri Royal who was a Paris champion. His sire is Vivaldi, a very easy-calving bull.”

Future outlook

Pat highlights one big issue that has come up on farm in recent years – the €uro-Star evaluations of imported stock.

“I would like to see the people that make the effort and go to France and spend the money not be penalised by the star system for bringing in good cattle.

“If a bull is bad, the most he’ll stay here is one year. Still the good ones that stay around may be nine or 10 before their stars rise. That’s the life of the bull; it’s no good having stars on a bull when he’s dead.

“The only thing about the breed is the suckler herd is diminishing fast and it’s putting serious pressure on the number of bulls which is needed. The good suckling men are paying the money, but the man who only has 20 cows, it’s very hard for him to pay €6,000 or €7,000 for a bull.”