Tullamore Farm will hold its annual draft heifer sale on Wednesday 26 October at Central Auctions, Roscrea, Co Tipperary, at 7pm.

The sale will include 19 in-calf heifers and seven maiden heifers. All heifers are sire-verified and genotyped four- or five-star on the replacement index which leaves them all eligible for the BDGP scheme.

All heifers are spring 2021-born, with most sired by AI sires like Ewdenvale Ivor, FSZ, Clonagh Frosty King, QCD, Ulsan and Curaheen Earp. Heifers have been bred to calve at two years of age in February and March 2022 and are in-calf to EBY, LM2014, LM5443 and a Salers stock bull.

Lot 815: This February 2021-born Charolais heifer is sired by Hideal and has a replacement index of €113. She is due to calve on 1 March 2023 to the Salers stock bull..

Lot 801: This March 2021-born Charolais heifer has one of the highest indexes in the sale at €196. She is due to calve on 23 Feb 2023 to LM2014.

Lot 812: This March 2021-born Charolais heifer is sired by Hideal and has a four star replacement index of €109. She is due to calve on 21 Feb 2023 to EBY.

All heifers have been scanned with dates for AI and natural service. Tullamore Farm manager Shaun Diver said: “We have calved all our heifers at two years of age since we started this project and for us it makes complete sense to do that. It’s been shown to be a clear driver of profitability within a herd and also one of the key actions to help meet our climate change targets.

“We would be missing out on a calf to wait to calve at three years old here in Tullamore.

“The average replacement index of the group is €141, €38 ahead of the national average, which stands at €102 for this age of heifer.

“The breeding programme on Tullamore Farm is centred on having a good functional R grade cow capable of breeding R/U grade progeny.

“There are two heifers in the batch with a replacement index of €188, the highest we have in this group. This year’s batch of 37 young bulls from the herd weighed in at 384kg carcase grading a U-3- at just under 16 months."

Lot 818: This February 2021-born heifer is by Fiston and has a replacement index of €126. She is due to calve on 25 Feb 2023 to LM5443.

Lot 807: This March 2021-born Simmental heifer is by Clonagh Frosty King and has a replacement index of €125. She is due to calve on 19 Feb 2023 to LM2014.

Lot 808: This March 2021-born Limousin heifer is sired by Edakkya and has a five star replacement index of €127. She is due to calve on 4 Feb 2023 to SA2189

“The 2022 batch of bulls averaged €2,085. When selecting AI bulls for use on the farm, the replacement index is number one, with focus on breeding good functional cows capable of making future replacements for the suckler herd.

“In recent years, we have been picking balanced bulls with good terminal traits coupled with good maternal traits to ensure that we also make progress on carcase weight and carcase conformation in the herd.

“All heifers have very good milk and fertility figures and nearly all heifers have high carcase weight and carcase conformation figures. The average carcase weight figure for the group is +18.3kg, 2kg ahead of last year’s batch of heifers, while the average milk figure is 7kg which is the same as last year’s heifer value.”

Lot 813: This February 2021-born Simmental heifer is sired by Curaheen Earp going back to a Tomriland Kestrel cow. She has a five-star replacement index of €147 and is due to calve on 19 February 2023 to the Salers stock bull.

Lot 817: This February 2021-born heifer is sired by EBY out of a Bivouac cow. She has a five-star replacement index of €116 and is due to calve on 23 FEB 2023 to LM5443.

Lot 810: This March 2021-born heifer is sired by Fiston and has a five-star replacement index of €134. She is due to calve on 1 March 2023 to the Salers stock bull.

Lot 809: This February 2021-born Simmental heifer is sired by Curaheen Earp and has a five-star replacement index of €164. She is due to calve on 8 Feb 2023 to LM2014.

Heifers have been selected for the sale based on a combination of genetics and visual appearance, keeping docility to the forefront of our mind. The farm has followed the replacement index to make progress and the average replacement index of the herd is €132, putting the herd in the top 2% of the country when it comes to replacement index.

Lot 800: This February 2021-born heifer is by Ewdendale Ivor and has a replacement index of €126. She is due to calve on 25 Feb 2023 to LM5443.

Lot 803: This February 2021-born Simmental heifer is sired by Cloondroon Calling and out of a Sunville Tritan cow and has a replacement index of €138. She is due to calve on 1 March 2023 to the Salers stock bull.

Fertility performance

The herd is also averaging +14kg for carcase weight and +9.1kg for milk. In terms of herd fertility performance, the herd currently has an average calving interval of 368 days. Calves per cow per year stands at .95, while the six-week calving rate is 70%.

Lot 806: This February 2021-born heifer is by Ulsan and out of an EBY cow. She has a five-star replacement index of €164 and is due to calve on 11 March 2023 to the Salers stock bull.

Lot 816: This March 2021-born heifer is sired by Fiston out of a Sunville Tritan cow. She has a replacement index of €135 and is due to calve on 31 March 2023 to the Salers stock bull.

The heifers are all spring 2021-born and have been managed on a grass-based diet for the duration of their lifetime. Their lifetime consumption of concentrates stands at 305kg of meal fed at weaning time as calves and during their first winter. No concentrates have been fed to the group since turnout in 2022.

The farm operates a high herd health policy and all heifers have been vaccinated against BVD and leptospirosis prior to breeding on a two-shot programme.

Lot 823: A March 2021-born maiden heifer sired by Fiston with a replacement index of €139.

Lot 804: This February 2021-born Charolais heifer is sired by Fiston and has a replacement index of €129. She is due to calve on 1 March 2023 to the Salers stock bull.

Lot 814: This March 2021-born Simmental heifer is by Cloondroon Calling and has a five-star replacement index of €121. She is due to calve on 1 March 2023 to the Salers stock bull.

Commenting on the heifers, Diver said: “We have some super heifers included in the sale this year. Cloondroon Calling (QCD) and Ewdenvale Ivor (LM2014) are two bulls that have bred really well for us here on the farm and we have a few great heifers by these AI bulls included in this year’s sale. We aren’t into breeding monsters on Tullamore Farm that calve at three to four years of age. We are looking to produce a medium-sized cow that will calve successfully at two years of age and go on and hopefully be profitable for the rest of her lifetime."

This March 2021-born heifer is sired by Cloondroon Calling (QCD) and out of an EBY cow. She has a four-star replacement index and is due to calve on 21 March 2023 to the Salers stock bull.

Lot 825: A February 2021-born maiden heifer sired by Ewdenvale Ivor with a replacement index of €177.

“Previous customers have kept in touch with us and they are really happy with the way stock are performing. That’s important for us. We have selected easy calving bulls so that heifers will hopefully calve down for the first time without assistance.”

Lot 824: A maiden Salers heifer with a replacement index of €146.

Online bidding

The sale will commence at 7pm with ringside and online bidding on the night.

Online bidding is via the Irish Farmers Journal MartBids platform. Prospective purchasers are advised to register to bid online on www.martbids.ie and apply for permission from Roscrea Mart to bid.

The mart has asked that all bidding registrations be complete by Tuesday 25 October to make sure that permissions are granted in time before the sale.

For bidding enquiries, contact Roscrea Mart on 0505-21687.

For people who wish to view the heifers before the sale and bid online without attending the mart, heifers can be viewed on farm between now and the sale date.

Contact Shaun Diver on 087-217 5486 to arrange a viewing. Transport can be arranged with the mart. The sale will be streamed live on martbids.ie and people who just want to view the sale can register and view without gaining permission to bid.