DEAR SIR: I firstly want to congratulate the Irish Farmers Journal on the great success of the Tullamore Farm open day. Upon reflecting on the visit, I have questions that I did not think of asking on the day.

With regard the replacements heifers, why is it the intention of the Tullamore Farm to sell all the replacements in a special breeding sale next spring? In my opinion, I believe the farm is in a unique situation, as the replacements on the ground are not daughters of the stock bulls. If it were left to me, I would be using the highest-ranking replacements to replace the lowest-ranking cows, as those heifers will be fit to go to the bull next May/June and thus will be in the system very quickly. This would also mean an extra year can be recieved from the stock bulls.

I want to commend the Irish Farmers Journal for taking on a project like the Tullamore Farm on such a large scale.t

The honesty, transparency and practicality of the farm walk was very refreshing and it was nice to know that I am doing the majority of things on my farm right.

Irish Farmers Journal reply: Choosing a Limousin x Friesian cow gives a great foundation to breed replacements from and guarantees milk – a key profit trait in suckler cows.

When bred with high replacement index bulls, these cows will produce an excellent Simmental or Limousin breeding heifer – ideal suckler cows and animals that should command premium prices.

Given that most suckler herds are small, producing both terminal and replacement stock is not easy unless there are two stock bulls present. We see our role as a replacement producer for local farms, so they can focus on breeding sale/finishing stock.

Selling the heifers at 15 months as breeding heifers, rather than selling them at 20 months as finished animals, means that more cows can be carried on the farm and, in turn, output and sales can be higher.

We also wish to build up a reputation for quality and this would be difficult should we choose to keep the best heifers and sell those that don’t make the cut. Teagasc research has also demonstrated that this type of cow is the most profitable in a suckler-finish system.