The Irish Charolais Cattle Society (ICCS) held its bi-annual All Ireland Suckler herds Competition recently, where herds entered from all over Ireland.
The positive influence of Charolais on all the herds demonstrates the phenomenal performance Charolais can bring to a herd, not only as a terminal sire, but as a maternal option too.
Top spot in the small herd category went to Michael and Jack Connellan from Co. Roscommon.
The Connellans run a calf-to-weanling system that has become well known in the area for producing outstanding Charolais weanlings.
The cows are mostly Limousin-cross and Charolais-cross, all crossed with a Charolais stockbull.
They run approximately 20 cows and operate a split-calving system between autumn and spring. The offspring are all sold as weanlings between eight to ten months old, at their local mart in Elphin.
During their time farming the Connellans have enjoyed remarkable success at the weanling shows and sales in Elphin, consistently picking up rosettes every year, against some of the best weanlings in the country.
Two cows from the herd also came second in the Irish Charolais Super Suckler Cow and Calf Competition held at Elphin Mart last year.
The pair’s greatest success to date however came this year when the herd was placed first in the small herds category of the Irish Charolais Suckler Herds Competition.
In recent years, the herd has sold weanlings to Dovea Genetics for public relations exercises, and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation for research purposes.
The herd’s key performance indicators also back up the quality of the cattle.
The average calving interval of the herd stands at 388 days and the number of calves produced per cow per year was 0.99 last year.
The Connellans have always run a Charolais stockbull, simply because they believe they are “the best”.
The current bull on the farm is Williamstown Mixey, a son of Pirate, out of a TZA-bred dam, who was purchased at a society sale back in 2017.
The first batch of weanlings this autumn was sold at Elphin Mart a few weeks back. At an average age of nine months old, the weanling bulls averaged €1,432 at an average weight of 420kg.
The weanling heifers averaged €1,290 at an average weight of 387kg. The Connellans top heifer went under the hammer at €1,500, with the top-priced bull in the batch hitting €1,640 at 430kg. The prices speak for themselves.
Suckler herd winners
Coming out on top in the large herd category of this year’s ICCS Suckler Herds Competition was the overall winner from 2021, Brian and Jim O’Leary from Co. Clare.
The pair run a calf-to-weanling system that can only be admired. The sheer quality of the weanlings on this farm is nothing short of exceptional.
The herd comprises approximately 100 suckler cows which are predominantly Limousin, Belgian Blue, Saler and Charolais crosses. In the past, the cows would have been first-generation cross cows from the dairy herd.
However, in recent years, they have moved to all second-generation cross cows from the dairy herd.
Brian said the reason for this is that “the type of the dairy cow has changed and for that reason we needed to move another step away from the first cross to keep the quality in our calves”.
The cows are crossed with Charolais stockbulls every year. Artificial insemination (AI) is also used within the herd to keep a small number of replacements coming on. Cows calve down in the spring and autumn, mainly to spread out the workload at calving, as Brian also works off-farm.
The two stockbulls used on the farm up until this year were both sired by the well-known AI sire Fiston, out of a Lisnagre Elite-bred dam. Both bulls crossed excellently on the herds various cow types.
It is clear to see that they bred calves which were easily born and developed rapidly after birth. The O’Learys aim to breed U-grade weanlings and sell most of their weanlings off-farm to repeat customers every year.
These customers have been putting these weanlings to beef for years with fantastic results.
The quality of the calves on this farm are one thing, but the performance and efficiency of the herd is the real standout. The average calving interval of the herd is 379 days.
Mortality at birth is 0%. Mortality at 28 days is 0%. The number of calves/cow/year is 0.96, compared to the national average of 0.87. An impressive performance for a herd of this size.
Grassland management is also very important to the Co. Clare men, evident in the strip-grazing techniques implemented on the farm.
The first two batches of spring-born weanling heifers were sold off-farm recently to repeat customers.
The first group averaged 356kg and sold for €1,230. The second group averaged 340kg and sold for €1,100.
The first batch of weanling bulls averaged 380kg and sold for an average of €1,420. One of the most impressive things about this herd is the consistency of the calves. They are likes peas in a pod, which is proven in their sale prices.
Both herds exemplify what can be achieved with the correct management techniques, genetics and grassland management. Most of all, they illustrate what Charolais stockbulls can do on a range of cow types.
Upcoming Charolais sales
Over the coming weeks the Irish Charolais Cattle Society is set to host two massive sales. The first is the Elite Charolais Heifer Show and Sale which will take place in Carrick-on-Shannon on Saturday, October 28.
There will be 47 top-quality, pre-selected heifers on offer. The society is offering some great incentives for buyers at this sale.
All heifers are export tested and eligible for export to Northern Ireland on the day.
Free transport will be available to Northern Ireland from the sale, as well as free transport to the UK mainland following the quarantine period after the sale. All heifers will be genotyped and myostatin tested.
The society will also be offering the following to all buyers at the sale:
- The purchaser of each heifer will get two free AI straws of the society’s new easy calving bulls;
- Free new membership for any first-time buyers at the sale;
- The purchasers of the five top-priced heifers will each receive a €250 premium.
Then on Saturday, November 4, 107 Charolais bulls will go under the hammer at Tullamore Mart. This will be the first society bull sale of the autumn.
Catalogue’s for both sales are available to view by clicking here.
