Paul Hurley runs a 45-cow suckler-to-weanling/store herd on 34ha (84 acres) in Lisheeda, Innishannon, Cork. The herd differs from conventional spring or autumn herds with calving taking place in July and August.

Paul says the calving date was selected several years ago to suit off-farm employment, with long day length at calving suiting labour availability.

The cow type in the herd of mainly Salers and Salers cross cows was happened upon by chance, with a Salers bull available to him and bought to run with heifers for ease of calving.

Several years on, the majority of cows have now some form of Salers breeding, with only a small number of the foundation first cross Simmental cows from the dairy herd present.

Breeding has progressed down this route as Paul says fertility suits tight calving (41 out of 45 cows calved in July and August in 2014) with ease of calving and hardiness another advantage to the breed cross. While docility in cows is regarded as good, Paul says there were some temperament issues in his early days dealing with the breed, with animals showing poor docility or temperament culled.

The aim in the herd is to use as much AI as possible and the farm partakes in the G€N€ IR€LAND programme.

Some Belgian Blue, Simmental and Charolais sires are used, with a focus on achieving a balance between good predicted breeding performance, easy calving and short gestation (Charolais and Simmental use is restricted after six weeks of the breeding season).

Breeding in the herd is impressive, with a calving interval of 362 days and 0.95 calves produced per cow (two calves died at birth). Calving ease in the herd is aided by running cows tight on grass in spring and early summer.

Bull and heifer weanlings graze ahead of cows, with performance boosted by not being forced to graze out paddocks. Cows can be tightened up and fed to maintenance in the weeks running up to calving. This also allows a large one-cut silage system to be operated.

Weanling bulls and heifers are prioritised for early turnout with a target of mid-March. 2013-born bulls were sold in July to a specialised finisher at an average weight of 512kg at less than 12 months of age. The majority of bulls were Belgian Blue, Simmental, Limousin and Charolais cross.

This year, heifers have been maintained for longer, with the strong grass growth providing a surplus of grass and allowing heifers to be brought to higher weights before sale. Paul estimates heifers are currently averaging over 500kg liveweight. Replacements will be selected from Salers and Simmental x Salers cross heifers, with AI starting in the last week.

A number of Salers cows are also pedigree registered, and a small number of bulls are retained and sold as stock bulls.

At present, there is stronger demand for pedigree heifers with sexed semen straws purchased this year to trial their success and hopefully breed more heifers.

The herd’s maternal breeding status is excellent, a fact that can be attributed to close attention to detail when selecting sires and a defined breeding programme that has been implemented over time.