While many consignments of pedigree Charolais make their way from France to Ireland every year, few breeders get to say that they have exported animals in the opposite direction, back to France.
The Ballym herd of pedigree Charolais, owned by the Quinn family, who farm just outside Edenderry in Co Offaly, can now chalk this one off the list – having exported a 19-month breeding bull to France last week.
Ballym Superstar, the December 2021-born Charolais bull, is sired by the Quinn’s herd stock bull Ballym Mylove.
Mylove was imported from France in February 2020 to run with the Quinn’s 70-cow pedigree Charolais herd. French genetics also dominate on the dam’s side, with his mother, Ballym Fifi, sired by Ballym Bouvreil, another bull that the Quinns imported from France in 2007.
Ballym Bouveril was out of the three time Paris champion cow Martinique.
The sale came about when Simon Perrot, owner of Simon Genetics, the French-based genetics company visited the Ballym herd with four French breeders on a tour of some herds in Ireland.
Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, Isabelle Quinn said: “We were just walking around the field looking at cows and calves and one of the breeders started to keep his eyes on Superstar, who was still sucking his mother at the time. He had to go back a few times and look again before he left. He rang a few days later and the deal was done that he would be exported during the summer months. We couldn’t believe it. It’s one of those things you dream of, a great achievement for our herd.”
While many consignments of pedigree Charolais make their way from France to Ireland every year, few breeders get to say that they have exported animals in the opposite direction, back to France.
The Ballym herd of pedigree Charolais, owned by the Quinn family, who farm just outside Edenderry in Co Offaly, can now chalk this one off the list – having exported a 19-month breeding bull to France last week.
Ballym Superstar, the December 2021-born Charolais bull, is sired by the Quinn’s herd stock bull Ballym Mylove.
Mylove was imported from France in February 2020 to run with the Quinn’s 70-cow pedigree Charolais herd. French genetics also dominate on the dam’s side, with his mother, Ballym Fifi, sired by Ballym Bouvreil, another bull that the Quinns imported from France in 2007.
Ballym Bouveril was out of the three time Paris champion cow Martinique.
The sale came about when Simon Perrot, owner of Simon Genetics, the French-based genetics company visited the Ballym herd with four French breeders on a tour of some herds in Ireland.
Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, Isabelle Quinn said: “We were just walking around the field looking at cows and calves and one of the breeders started to keep his eyes on Superstar, who was still sucking his mother at the time. He had to go back a few times and look again before he left. He rang a few days later and the deal was done that he would be exported during the summer months. We couldn’t believe it. It’s one of those things you dream of, a great achievement for our herd.”
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