“As long as you produce top-quality stock and look after them well, there will always be a market for that animal”

Breeding stylish and shapely cattle is the name of the game for suckler farmer Michael Mitchel from Belcarra, Castlebar, Co Mayo.

The family farm runs a 30-cow suckler herd with 100% AI being used for breeding. The cows are split between spring- and autumn-calving. Alongside this, they also run a flock of 30 ewes.

Michael keeps an eye on figures when breeding replacements but would never sacrifice style or shape chasing figures.

The aim for Michael is consistently breed an R+ grading cow for the herd. Sires are chosen to improve individual cow traits that Michael feels need attention. Typically any heifer that is suitable for breeding is taken through and if there are surplus then some will be sold. All male calves are sold at around eight months old.

Autumn-born stock on the farm.