Farming outside Dromod, in south Co Leitrim, the Mulligan family from Currycamp have been synonymous with Irish Angus breeding for over 60 years at this stage. The Currycamp Angus herd, which later became the Clooncarne herd, was started by the late Gerard Mulligan in the early 1950s.
The late Gerard Mulligan (right), pictured with his son Tom and granddaughter Fiona.
Gerard was known throughout the breeding scene in Ireland and travelled to the four corners of the country to judge and attend shows throughout the years. He sat as a council member of the Irish Angus Cattle Society and served time on the executive committee of the Midlands and Western Livestock Improvement Society.
Having been bitten by the pedigree bug himself, Gerard’s son Tom introduced both purebred Charolais and Limousin cows to the mix in the early 1990s, operating under the Currycamp prefix.
Charolais cattle on the Mulligan farm.
“At the time there was a bit of a swing away from the Angus and more towards the continental type cattle so we brought them in just to try them out. It is interesting to see how things have gone full circle and now the Angus breed is more popular than ever,” said Tom.
Today, the family runs a herd of 60 cows, with 40% being Aberdeen Angus while the remainder is evenly split between Charolais and Limousin. Everything on the farm is bred pure except for Charolais heifers who are mated to Limousin for the first time for ease of calving.
Calving starts in September and runs through to April. This gives the family a spread of ages of calves so as to suit different bull sales throughout the year.
“We try to have bulls sold at 16 months old. We find if they are older than that they often start costing you money. Buyers like to get the bull home younger nowadays and it works well for our system also.”
Limousin cattle on the Mulligan farm.
Only the best bulls and heifers make it through the rigorous selection process for being used or sold for breeding. Anything that’s not up to scratch is either finished under 16 months if it is a bull or sold as a store animal in the mart if it is a heifer.
The family do keep a close eye on figures when it comes to breeding, with calving ease being the big one that customers are now demanding.
“You have to move with the times and produce the animal that the customer wants. It has got to a stage where it can be very difficult to sell a bull if he is not four- or five-star rated. Calving ease is the first thing most farmers will ask for when they are enquiring about a bull. Luckily we are doing OK with our stock in term of star ratings and calving ease. A lot of the breeding decisions have had a strong focus on that end of things over the last number of years.”
Grazing
The cows run in four even batches throughout the grazing season. This is to facilitate the fragmented farm which sees the family operate across four different land parcels.
“There’s not that much distance between any of the land, it’s all within a few kilometres of each other but it does still mean some running around for moving and checking stock. Some of the land is designated for the protection of the curlew. We have a breeding pair on the farm and there are only 138 breeding pairs in the whole country so they need looking after. There are not too many restrictions with it, we just can’t cut certain areas until late summer.
When it comes to schemes we join whatever we can – it all helps at the end of the day
“We are also in the GLAS agri-environmental scheme so a lot of the grazing ground is classified as low input permanent pasture so we just need to keep our stocking rates lower and avoid cutting until after 1 July.
“When it comes to schemes we join whatever we can – it all helps at the end of the day. Hopefully both GLAS and the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) will be extended for another few years. Farmers are in need of these support mechanisms now more than ever.”
You have to move with the times and produce the animal that the customer wants
The grazing season is typically mid-April to mid-October but it is very much weather dependant. This year turnout was early once the weather dried up in late March. More often than not the family are looking at a six-month winter at least.
To see them through this they try to make around 700 silage bales each year. Some first-cut silage was made last week. This will be targeted at young stock and autumn-calving cows. The main cut will be in a week to 10 days’ time for the dry cows as quality is not as important for this stock group.
Breeding
Currently all cows that are bred during the winter months for autumn calving receive AI. For spring-calving cows, Charolais and Limousins are served with AI, while Angus cows are mated to the current stock bull Knockmountagh Robert, who was purchased for €3,500 in Carrick-on-Shannon in April 2018.
Everyone is involved and does their bit. There’s no shortage of work
“Farming in Leitrim can be difficult, especially with a fragmented farm. We cannot control the weather but what we can have full control over is the genetics and quality of our stock – that is where we have to focus our attention and try and make up for the land quality.”
The future
The Mulligan family now have the next generation making a mark on the farming operation. Tom is married to Deirdre and they have five children – Ian, Ronan, Gearóid, Aine and Fiona – who all play active roles on the farm.
“Everyone is involved and does their bit. There’s no shortage of work, we do our own baling and as much machinery work as we can ourselves. I don’t know who is going to take it on in the future but it would be sad if there isn’t a living to be made off 60 cows.” Tom said.
“The farm layout doesn’t really lend itself to any other type of farming. Who knows, if suckler cow numbers continue to drop, which they seem to be doing, well then maybe there will be more in it for the rest of us.”
Location: Dromod, Co Leitrim. Herd: 60 cows, with 40% being Aberdeen Angus while the remainder is evenly split between Charolais and Limousin.Calving: September to April.Farm size: 90ha. Fragmented farm: four separate parcels of land.
Farming outside Dromod, in south Co Leitrim, the Mulligan family from Currycamp have been synonymous with Irish Angus breeding for over 60 years at this stage. The Currycamp Angus herd, which later became the Clooncarne herd, was started by the late Gerard Mulligan in the early 1950s.
The late Gerard Mulligan (right), pictured with his son Tom and granddaughter Fiona.
Gerard was known throughout the breeding scene in Ireland and travelled to the four corners of the country to judge and attend shows throughout the years. He sat as a council member of the Irish Angus Cattle Society and served time on the executive committee of the Midlands and Western Livestock Improvement Society.
Having been bitten by the pedigree bug himself, Gerard’s son Tom introduced both purebred Charolais and Limousin cows to the mix in the early 1990s, operating under the Currycamp prefix.
Charolais cattle on the Mulligan farm.
“At the time there was a bit of a swing away from the Angus and more towards the continental type cattle so we brought them in just to try them out. It is interesting to see how things have gone full circle and now the Angus breed is more popular than ever,” said Tom.
Today, the family runs a herd of 60 cows, with 40% being Aberdeen Angus while the remainder is evenly split between Charolais and Limousin. Everything on the farm is bred pure except for Charolais heifers who are mated to Limousin for the first time for ease of calving.
Calving starts in September and runs through to April. This gives the family a spread of ages of calves so as to suit different bull sales throughout the year.
“We try to have bulls sold at 16 months old. We find if they are older than that they often start costing you money. Buyers like to get the bull home younger nowadays and it works well for our system also.”
Limousin cattle on the Mulligan farm.
Only the best bulls and heifers make it through the rigorous selection process for being used or sold for breeding. Anything that’s not up to scratch is either finished under 16 months if it is a bull or sold as a store animal in the mart if it is a heifer.
The family do keep a close eye on figures when it comes to breeding, with calving ease being the big one that customers are now demanding.
“You have to move with the times and produce the animal that the customer wants. It has got to a stage where it can be very difficult to sell a bull if he is not four- or five-star rated. Calving ease is the first thing most farmers will ask for when they are enquiring about a bull. Luckily we are doing OK with our stock in term of star ratings and calving ease. A lot of the breeding decisions have had a strong focus on that end of things over the last number of years.”
Grazing
The cows run in four even batches throughout the grazing season. This is to facilitate the fragmented farm which sees the family operate across four different land parcels.
“There’s not that much distance between any of the land, it’s all within a few kilometres of each other but it does still mean some running around for moving and checking stock. Some of the land is designated for the protection of the curlew. We have a breeding pair on the farm and there are only 138 breeding pairs in the whole country so they need looking after. There are not too many restrictions with it, we just can’t cut certain areas until late summer.
When it comes to schemes we join whatever we can – it all helps at the end of the day
“We are also in the GLAS agri-environmental scheme so a lot of the grazing ground is classified as low input permanent pasture so we just need to keep our stocking rates lower and avoid cutting until after 1 July.
“When it comes to schemes we join whatever we can – it all helps at the end of the day. Hopefully both GLAS and the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) will be extended for another few years. Farmers are in need of these support mechanisms now more than ever.”
You have to move with the times and produce the animal that the customer wants
The grazing season is typically mid-April to mid-October but it is very much weather dependant. This year turnout was early once the weather dried up in late March. More often than not the family are looking at a six-month winter at least.
To see them through this they try to make around 700 silage bales each year. Some first-cut silage was made last week. This will be targeted at young stock and autumn-calving cows. The main cut will be in a week to 10 days’ time for the dry cows as quality is not as important for this stock group.
Breeding
Currently all cows that are bred during the winter months for autumn calving receive AI. For spring-calving cows, Charolais and Limousins are served with AI, while Angus cows are mated to the current stock bull Knockmountagh Robert, who was purchased for €3,500 in Carrick-on-Shannon in April 2018.
Everyone is involved and does their bit. There’s no shortage of work
“Farming in Leitrim can be difficult, especially with a fragmented farm. We cannot control the weather but what we can have full control over is the genetics and quality of our stock – that is where we have to focus our attention and try and make up for the land quality.”
The future
The Mulligan family now have the next generation making a mark on the farming operation. Tom is married to Deirdre and they have five children – Ian, Ronan, Gearóid, Aine and Fiona – who all play active roles on the farm.
“Everyone is involved and does their bit. There’s no shortage of work, we do our own baling and as much machinery work as we can ourselves. I don’t know who is going to take it on in the future but it would be sad if there isn’t a living to be made off 60 cows.” Tom said.
“The farm layout doesn’t really lend itself to any other type of farming. Who knows, if suckler cow numbers continue to drop, which they seem to be doing, well then maybe there will be more in it for the rest of us.”
Location: Dromod, Co Leitrim. Herd: 60 cows, with 40% being Aberdeen Angus while the remainder is evenly split between Charolais and Limousin.Calving: September to April.Farm size: 90ha. Fragmented farm: four separate parcels of land. 
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