Yesterday marked the first sale of breeding heifers from Tullamore Farm. One of the objectives of the farm is to produce quality breeding heifers with high genetic indexes and offer these heifers for sale on an annual basis when the heifers reach 14 to 15 months.

The heifers on show on the day were predominantly Limousin cross with an average replacement index of €108, putting them in the top 20% of heifers in the country in terms of replacement index.

Daughter milk rate

The heifers also had an average daughter milk figure of +8.3kg, which puts the group in the top 10% in the country in terms of commercial heifer daughter milk.

A small selection of dairy cross heifers were also sold with an average replacement of €110 and average daughter milk of +13.1kg.

There was great interest on the day with a packed ringside from the sale opening. A 92% sale clearance was achieved along with an average price of €950.

Lot 1: Irish Farmers Journal replacement heifer sale at Tullamore (GVM) Mart. \ David Ruffles

Lot 1:

  • Replacement index: €123.
  • Daughter milk: +8.2kg.
  • Weight: 515kg.
  • Price: €1,270.
  • Per kg: €2.47.
  • Lot 8: Irish Farmers Journal replacement heifer sale at Tullamore (GVM) Mart. \ David Ruffles

    Lot 8:

  • Replacement index: €127.
  • Daughter milk: +9.9kg.
  • Weight: 425kg.
  • Price: €1,110.
  • Per kg: €2.60.
  • Lot 10: Irish Farmers Journal replacement heifer sale at Tullamore (GVM) Mart. \ David Ruffles

    Lot 10:

  • Replacement index: €107.
  • Daughter milk: +7.9kg.
  • Weight: 335kg.
  • Price: €900.
  • Per kg: €2.69.
  • Lot 12: Irish Farmers Journal replacement heifer sale at Tullamore (GVM) Mart. \ David Ruffles

    Lot 12:

  • Replacement index: €121.
  • Daughter milk: +9.4kg.
  • Weight: 375kg.
  • Price: €1,070.
  • Per kg: €2.85.
  • Lot 14: Irish Farmers Journal replacement heifer sale at Tullamore (GVM) Mart. \ David Ruffles

    Lot 14:

  • Replacement index: €131.
  • Daughter milk: +8.2kg.
  • Weight: 375kg.
  • Price: €1,000.
  • Per kg: €2.67.
  • Lot 17: Irish Farmers Journal replacement heifer sale at Tullamore (GVM) Mart. \ David Ruffles

    Lot 17:

  • Replacement index: €106.
  • Daughter milk: +8.1kg.
  • Weight: 385kg.
  • Price: €1,210.
  • Per kg: €3.14.
  • Lot 26: Irish Farmers Journal replacement heifer sale at Tullamore (GVM) Mart. \ David Ruffles

    Lot 26:

  • Replacement index: €126.
  • Daughter milk: +10.9kg.
  • Weight: 315kg.
  • Price: €1,000.
  • Per kg: €3.17
  • Lot 30: Irish Farmers Journal replacement heifer sale at Tullamore (GVM) Mart. \ David Ruffles

    Lot 30:

  • Replacement index: €124.
  • Daughter milk: +10.1kg.
  • Weight: 345kg.
  • Price: €1,070.
  • Per kg: €3.10.
  • Lot 37: Irish Farmers Journal replacement heifer sale at Tullamore (GVM) Mart. \ David Ruffles

    Lot 37:

  • Replacement index: €143.
  • Daughter milk: +5.38kg.
  • Weight: 300kg.
  • Price: €1,010.
  • Per kg: €3.37.
  • Lot 40: Irish Farmers Journal replacement heifer sale at Tullamore (GVM) Mart. \ David Ruffles

    Lot 40:

  • Replacement index: €101.
  • Daughter milk: +7kg.
  • Weight: 315kg.
  • Price: €1,060.
  • Per kg: €3.37.
  • Lot 44: Irish Farmers Journal replacement heifer sale at Tullamore (GVM) Mart. \ David Ruffles

    Lot 44:

  • Replacement index: €136.
  • Daughter milk: +14.1kg.
  • Weight: 345kg.
  • Price: €800.
  • Per kg: €2.31.
  • Sale comment by Adam Woods

    While overall the sale went well with a very good clearance rate, the difficult spring meant the weights of the heifers were 30kg behind where they should be and this affected our average sale price a little: 30kg x €2.76/kg (average sale price) = €83.

    The plan was to turn out the heifers to graze in early March, meaning they would have two months at grass gaining some cheap weight.

    We budgeted that they would gain 1kg/day during this period but instead they gained 0.6kg/day in the shed on average-quality silage and meal.

    Weight loss

    One interesting note was that the heifers were weighed on Thursday 3 May at 369kg. The heifers weighed 351kg going through the mart on Monday, meaning a loss of 18kg between weighing and the mart sale four days later. One would think the short journey of four miles would have reduced this loss in weight but it didn’t.

    Target

    In the farm plan drafted at the start of the project, the breeding heifers were budgeted at €1,050 of a sale price. The average sale price was €950, €100 short of where we need to be to hit our target output and profit levels. It was notable that there were fewer buyers around the ring for our later-born heifers, which has further compounded the need to pull back our calving date and calve as many as we can in February and March to avoid these lighter, younger heifers.

    Another interesting note was the appetite for a quality heifer, with good weight for age, a high replacement index and by an AI sire. Our hands were tied a little with our 2017 crop of calves in that cows and heifers were purchased in calf with no control over the sire used.

    2019 sale

    With a lot more AI calves on the ground in 2018, this will hopefully tick more boxes for our 2019 sale. We would like to wish all the farmers who bought stock on the night the best of luck with their purchases and hope that the heifers turn into profitable cows of the future.

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