James Alexander and his father, Nelson, have tapped into a growing market. The fatstock and show scene is growing in popularity every year with demand also growing for show-type calves. He also has a good customer base from good commercial suckler farmers for the right type of heifer.
The Alexanders have capitalised on this growing market and went down the route of sourcing and breeding top-of-the-range heifers to sell as in-calf heifers annually.
Suckling
“We were calving 400 cows here at one stage. I really enjoyed the sucklers and I felt we were getting on well. It was just too time-consuming. We went down the road of top-end stuff and had a fair share of sections every year. We were chasing those show calves and there is a lot of work associated with that,” James says.
“Don’t get me wrong, it was really rewarding when we were winning at shows with calves but it just got too much.”
A selection of Simmental and Limousin heifers on the Alexander farm.
In 2015, James and Nelson decided to sell off the sucklers and head down a different road.
James says: “The garage was getting busier at the time and my father was looking for more help in the business so we decided to sell the sucklers. It was a very difficult decision at the time. I had a very young family at the time and looking back, it was the right decision. The current system of buying heifers suits us better from a workload point of view.”
Quality
“The issue with us is getting the heifers good enough. We could sell the best heifers we have every year, a couple of times over,” James says.
He has a number of buyers in the south of Ireland and heifers are bought year-round. They tell the buyers what we want and they go and buy them. Price isn’t an issue.
James Alexander in his farm office.
James says: “We have heifers in the yard costing us from €900 to €2,400. “We get a lot of heifers from Carnew, Roscommon, Elphin, Raphoe and Balla. We also purchase a few at the Carrick-on-Shannon fatstock show every year. We are looking for a top-of-the-range heifer with a good bit of muscle. We also like heifers to come in soft with a nice amount of flesh or at least good fleshing ability.”
Most of the heifers in the yard have some degree of Belgian Blue breeding and are batched according to weight and breed type. “AI usage in the suckler herd is higher in the south of Ireland, so there’s a better chance of getting the type of heifer down there,” according to James.
Health protocol
There is a standard health regime for all heifers that come on to the farm. All heifers receive a fluke and worm dose once they are unloaded. Heifers are vaccinated for pneumonia and receive a BVD vaccine. All heifers are also vaccinated against botulism and black leg.
Heifers are all clipped and treated for lice at housing. There is a focus on making top-quality silage but any heifers that come weighing light are supplemented with meal to hit target weights. James likes to have heifers close to 500kg at breeding.
Synchronisation and AI
While there are 20 bulls on the farm at the moment, James chose to artificially inseminate some of the heifers this year. “Buyers have more confidence in purchasing if you can guarantee an easy calving. We went with a synchronisation programme and got 78% conception to first service using AI and 74% with the stock bulls. We kept the programme as simple as possible and went with fixed-time AI,” he says.
The timeline at the bottom of the page outlines the details of the programme used. Proven easy-calved Limousin bulls were used, Edenvale Ivor (LM2014) at 3.1% calving difficulty and Elderberry Galahead (EBY) at 3.8% calving difficulty.
Specialised system
For a lot of suckler farmers, it doesn’t make sense to go to the trouble of trying to breed their own replacements.
“I saw an opening for this type of system three years ago. When I was suckling, there was nowhere I could go and get a pick of a large amount of heifers.
James Alexander will hold an open day on his farm on Saturday 9 March 2019 where over 900 heifers will be on display.
"We tried it and now we have a number of people coming back each year looking for the heifers. We are offering a large selection to pick from and heifers are all scanned in-calf, so it’s the package we are offering,” he says.
Brexit
“I really don’t know what will happen,” James says.
Britain needs Irish beef to feed its people and France needs British lamb. I think a resolution will have to be found allowing free trade between the EU and the UK
“We are very exposed up here. We are purchasing 95% of our heifers in the south and selling the majority of them back down there again. Look, Britain needs Irish beef to feed its people and France needs British lamb. I think a resolution will have to be found allowing free trade between the EU and the UK," he adds.
Farm supports
“Something has to change. The active farmer isn’t being rewarded enough in Northern Ireland. Here, we are farming to the best of our ability, employing people and spending a lot of money on inputs, supporting our local economy. There are people sitting in armchairs around the country getting full single farm payments along with leasing out their land.
James buys heifers all year round and sells as maiden and in calf.
"This isn’t encouraging young people into farming and its stifling our industry. We need to look to support the active farmer more.”
James Alexander and his father, Nelson, have tapped into a growing market. The fatstock and show scene is growing in popularity every year with demand also growing for show-type calves. He also has a good customer base from good commercial suckler farmers for the right type of heifer.
The Alexanders have capitalised on this growing market and went down the route of sourcing and breeding top-of-the-range heifers to sell as in-calf heifers annually.
Suckling
“We were calving 400 cows here at one stage. I really enjoyed the sucklers and I felt we were getting on well. It was just too time-consuming. We went down the road of top-end stuff and had a fair share of sections every year. We were chasing those show calves and there is a lot of work associated with that,” James says.
“Don’t get me wrong, it was really rewarding when we were winning at shows with calves but it just got too much.”
A selection of Simmental and Limousin heifers on the Alexander farm.
In 2015, James and Nelson decided to sell off the sucklers and head down a different road.
James says: “The garage was getting busier at the time and my father was looking for more help in the business so we decided to sell the sucklers. It was a very difficult decision at the time. I had a very young family at the time and looking back, it was the right decision. The current system of buying heifers suits us better from a workload point of view.”
Quality
“The issue with us is getting the heifers good enough. We could sell the best heifers we have every year, a couple of times over,” James says.
He has a number of buyers in the south of Ireland and heifers are bought year-round. They tell the buyers what we want and they go and buy them. Price isn’t an issue.
James Alexander in his farm office.
James says: “We have heifers in the yard costing us from €900 to €2,400. “We get a lot of heifers from Carnew, Roscommon, Elphin, Raphoe and Balla. We also purchase a few at the Carrick-on-Shannon fatstock show every year. We are looking for a top-of-the-range heifer with a good bit of muscle. We also like heifers to come in soft with a nice amount of flesh or at least good fleshing ability.”
Most of the heifers in the yard have some degree of Belgian Blue breeding and are batched according to weight and breed type. “AI usage in the suckler herd is higher in the south of Ireland, so there’s a better chance of getting the type of heifer down there,” according to James.
Health protocol
There is a standard health regime for all heifers that come on to the farm. All heifers receive a fluke and worm dose once they are unloaded. Heifers are vaccinated for pneumonia and receive a BVD vaccine. All heifers are also vaccinated against botulism and black leg.
Heifers are all clipped and treated for lice at housing. There is a focus on making top-quality silage but any heifers that come weighing light are supplemented with meal to hit target weights. James likes to have heifers close to 500kg at breeding.
Synchronisation and AI
While there are 20 bulls on the farm at the moment, James chose to artificially inseminate some of the heifers this year. “Buyers have more confidence in purchasing if you can guarantee an easy calving. We went with a synchronisation programme and got 78% conception to first service using AI and 74% with the stock bulls. We kept the programme as simple as possible and went with fixed-time AI,” he says.
The timeline at the bottom of the page outlines the details of the programme used. Proven easy-calved Limousin bulls were used, Edenvale Ivor (LM2014) at 3.1% calving difficulty and Elderberry Galahead (EBY) at 3.8% calving difficulty.
Specialised system
For a lot of suckler farmers, it doesn’t make sense to go to the trouble of trying to breed their own replacements.
“I saw an opening for this type of system three years ago. When I was suckling, there was nowhere I could go and get a pick of a large amount of heifers.
James Alexander will hold an open day on his farm on Saturday 9 March 2019 where over 900 heifers will be on display.
"We tried it and now we have a number of people coming back each year looking for the heifers. We are offering a large selection to pick from and heifers are all scanned in-calf, so it’s the package we are offering,” he says.
Brexit
“I really don’t know what will happen,” James says.
Britain needs Irish beef to feed its people and France needs British lamb. I think a resolution will have to be found allowing free trade between the EU and the UK
“We are very exposed up here. We are purchasing 95% of our heifers in the south and selling the majority of them back down there again. Look, Britain needs Irish beef to feed its people and France needs British lamb. I think a resolution will have to be found allowing free trade between the EU and the UK," he adds.
Farm supports
“Something has to change. The active farmer isn’t being rewarded enough in Northern Ireland. Here, we are farming to the best of our ability, employing people and spending a lot of money on inputs, supporting our local economy. There are people sitting in armchairs around the country getting full single farm payments along with leasing out their land.
James buys heifers all year round and sells as maiden and in calf.
"This isn’t encouraging young people into farming and its stifling our industry. We need to look to support the active farmer more.”
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