The Irish Charolais Cattle Society is set to host its biggest and most anticipated bull sale of the year. The ‘Christmas Cracker’ bull sale will take place on Saturday, December 2, at Elphin Mart, Co. Roscommon.
The sale comprises of 88 top-quality Charolais bulls, pre-inspected from over 150 entries. This is to ensure a high overall standard for customers.
The Charolais society will give €300 back to the purchasers of the first 30 bulls to sell for over €4,500 in the ring.
All bulls will be export-tested, and will be eligible for export on the day to Northern Ireland.
All bulls will be fertility tested, and bulls sold within the Republic of Ireland are fertility insured. All entries are genotyped, sire verified and myostatin tested.
Another incentive to buyers from Northern Ireland is the society will pay €100 towards transport costs to NI, or transport can be arranged to NI directly from the sale.
There is a deferred payment scheme option in place, whereby buyers only pay one third of the price of the bull on the day of sale. Anyone interested in availing of this must contact the Charolais society’s office at least five days prior to the sale to apply.
The show will commence at 9:30 sharp on Saturday morning. For anyone unable to make it, the show will also be streamed live at www.charolais.ie.
The sale will commence at 12:30p.m. Ringside & online bidding will be available through Martbids.ie.
The Charolais society spoke to two suckler farmers on why they chose Charolais.
Firstly, Gerry Connellan, from just outside Maynooth in Co. Kildare, has been farming suckler cows since 1987. In 2018, he formed a partnership with his son Donal, to farm their herd of 47 strong Limousin, Charolais, and Simmental cross cows.
The herd is completely spring-calving, mainly from January-March. They run two Charolais stock bulls with exceptional results.
For the last five years they have run a homebred son of Fiston. The calves of this bull have been nothing short of outstanding, topping the weanling sales in Elphin consistently over this period.
The newest addition to the herd is Goldstar Sundance, a Goldstar Echo son who was purchased at the Christmas Cracker Sale in Elphin last year.
The pair sell their weanlings at the Charolais Show and Sale every year, rarely missing the prize category, a record they are very proud off.
Just a few weeks ago, they won first place for the best pen of weanling bulls and heifers at the annual show and sale in Elphin. A fantastic achievement, considering the standard of calves at this prestigious annual show and sale.
Their weanling bulls averaged 401kg, and sold for an eye watering average of €1,522. The weanling heifers averaged 345kg and sold to an average of €1,280.
The average age of these weanlings was just eight-months-old.
For the last five years, the pair have been breeding their own replacements from five-star Limousin and Charolais-cross cows with fantastic results. The average calving interval of the herd is 369 days.
The number of calves produced per cow in the herd is 0.98. The mortality at birth for 2022 was 0%. The phenotypic quality of the cows is absolutely outstanding.
The combination of the cows, and their terrific Charolais calves placed the herd second in the ‘large herd’ category of this year’s ICCS Suckler Herds Competition.
We also spoke to well-known suckler farmer Tom Fitzmaurice. If there is such a thing as the ultimate suckler herd, this small herd based in Derrynacong, Co. Mayo is certainly it.
Tom runs a herd of approximately 20 spring-calving suckler cows with a Charolais bull every year. The cows are a mix of Simmental, Limousin and Charolais crosses.
In 2021, Tom won the ‘small herd’ category of the society’s suckler herd competition. This year he placed second in a ferociously strong category, despite having the youngest bunch of calves in the competition.
The herd has become well-known in the area for producing top-quality Charolais weanlings.
Tom has picked up the ‘Overall Champion’ of the weanling show and sale at Castlerea Mart on four occasions in the last six years, as well as achieving the top price on numerous occasions.
In 2022, the herd came first, with two cows and calves in the society’s Super Suckler Cow and Calf Competition in Elphin.
Over the years the herd has built up a phenomenal demand for weanlings, with the heifers usually selling off farm to repeat customers every year.
This year’s weanlings were all sired by Tom’s stock bull, Oghamstone Leo, who is a son of Pirate, out a CF 52 bred dam.
Leo was purchased at the 2016 Premier Show and Sale in Elphin for €3,400, when he was just 14-months-old.
The stock bull prior to this was the well-known AI sire, Tonroe Eminem, a son of CF 52 out of a Pirate bred dam. The two bulls clearly brought remarkable success to the herd.
This year’s weanling bulls were sold at Castlerea Mart on September 21. In total, nine weanling bulls sold to a staggering average of €1,205, at an average weight of 275kg.
They ranged from five-to-six-months-old. Tom sold three weanling heifers the same day, averaging 323kg and sold for an average of €1,210.
But this herd is not just about producing outstanding weanlings; its efficiency and productivity is exceptional. The average calving interval of the herd is 363 days. The number of calves produced per cow, per year, sits at 0.98, placing the herd in the top 5% nationally.
The cows provide milk, fertility, calving ability, longevity, low maintenance, and cull value.
The Charolais stock bull brings calving ease, weight gain, shape, colour, style and quality. The combination of both makes this herd sustainable, efficient, and most importantly profitable.
If you would like to increase the performance and profitability of your suckler herd, come along to the Christmas Cracker Sale at Elphin Mart on Saturday, December 2, where there will be 88 top quality, pre-selected bulls catalogued.
More information can be found clicking www.charolais.ie
