“I have had a lot of enquiries from farmers looking for a new bull through the Stockbull Finder.

“These are farmers from all over Ireland who I would never otherwise have made contact with me,” said Anthony Dockery, a Shorthorn pedigree breeder and WHPR participant.

“In fact, one man from Northern Ireland found one of my bulls through the Stockbull Finder. I was taking this particular one to a sale but he still travelled down to bid on that bull.

“I have sold several bulls off the land that were identified on the Stockbull Finder. So yes, for giving an afternoon to weighing stock as part of the WHPR programme, the advertising and enquiries that come through the Stockbull Finder afterwards make it a very worthwhile programme to be part of.

“The enquiries are great and it’s also encouraging for breeds like the Shorthorn who have fewer breeders than some of the other breeds. People can see that our bulls have good €uro-Star ratings and, also, we are getting good exposure that we otherwise would not be getting if it wasn’t for the Stockbull Finder.”

Anthony Dockery (centre)

Quick recap on the Stockbull Finder

  • Step 1: Go to: www.icbf.com and click on the ‘Stockbull Finder’ logo on the front page;
  • Step 2: Put in your search criteria as regards – location, breed and stars;
  • Step 3: Scroll through the bulls that came back from your search. Click on the ‘owner’s’ name to get the phone number to ring, to enquire about possibly buying the bull.

What have these breeders done to have their bull’s shortlisted?

WHPR (Whole Herd Performance Recording) is ICBF’s on-farm performance recording program. These pedigree breeders have voluntarily signed up to the WHPR programme and have had all of their pedigree animal’s independently weighed and scored by ICBF. So, only bulls from WHPR pedigree beef herds are displayed.

Stockbull Finder bulls

All young bulls (10 months to three-years-old) are automatically advertised for sale on the Stockbull Finder after a herd’s annual WHPR visit from ICBF.

Displayed below is a young pedigree bull in Anthony’s herd that is up on the Stockbull Finder since he was weighed at his WHPR visit. All of the bull’s weight data is shown by clicking on the ‘Show’ button in the ‘Weight’ column.

As can be seen, Anthony, like a lot of other breeders in this programme, is also weighing his calves at birth. The bull below had a birthweight of 38kg. A lot of bull buyers get a lot of confidence about how a bull has been fed and reared by seeing this weight data.

For a beef farmer looking for a new Stockbull, the ‘Stockbull Finder’ is the best online place to start looking. It is the only search engine for beef bulls in Ireland where all of the bulls have been independently weighed and scored by ICBF before being displayed.

ICBF does not advise farmers to purchase a bull on figures alone. The bull must be seen. This is why in the ‘Stockbull Finder’ actual weight recorded on each bull is shown alongside the bull’s €uro-Star data.

To find your new beef Stockbull click here

More information

Call ICBF today to help you find your next beef Stockbull at: 023-8820452; or email: [email protected].