The Premier Hereford Spring Show and Sale was held last Saturday, March 26, at GVM Tullamore Mart in Co. Offaly and was described as “a huge success”.
According to a report from the Irish Hereford Breed Society Ltd. (IHBS), the sale kicked off the year “on a high, with some fantastic statistics”.
Before selling got underway, the day started with a pre-sale show. Mr. William McMordie of Solpoll Herefords, Co. Down, judged the four bull classes “with great tact” according to the society.
The auctioneer on the day was newly appointed IHBS auctioneer for 2022, Mr. Eamonn Gaffney.
Key statistics from the bull sale:
- The average sale price on the day stood at €3,340;
- 75% sale clearance rate;
- 75% of bulls sold for over €3,000;
- 25% bulls sold for over €4,000.
After studying the livestock on display, the judge tapped Lot 34, Aughakil 1 Paddington, forward as the champion of the day.
This November 2020-born bull was sired by Solpoll 1 Lawman and bred from a Moyclare Lieutenant cow.
Paddington boasts 5-stars for replacement index and has 4-stars for the terminal index and carcass conformation.
Paddington was sold to a buyer from Co. Laois for €2,750.
The top price in the sale ring was secured by Cavehill Max. This impressive bull was bred by Padraig Farrell and sons of Cavehill Herefords, Co. Westmeath.
Max was sold to a Northern Irish breeder for €5,200 after placing first in his class.
Max, sired by Allowdale Rambo 475 and bred from Dunlever Candy, is bred with both traditional and modern breeding and possesses four-stars for carcass weight and is conformation and fertility tested.
The second-highest priced bull of the day was Glaslough Woody, bred by Nigel Heatrick, Glaslough Herefords, Co. Monaghan. Woody sold to a repeat customer and fellow breeder for €4,200.
Woody, sired by Ballyaville Ger, has 4-stars on the replacement and terminal indexes.
Padraig McGrath of Kye Herefords, Co. Roscommon, enjoyed great success on the day with his bull Kye Will 918.
This bull was sired by Pulham Ranger and bred from a Trillick Hotspur dam and has a 5-star terminal index, with five stars for carcass traits also. This Roscommon-bred bull was sold for €4,050.
Tom Brennan from Balleen Herefords, Co. Kilkenny, secured €4,000 for his bull Balleen Hitman.
Hitman won first place in the first class and was then purchased by a fellow Hereford breeder for €4,000.
Balleen Hitman is sired by Balleen Achiever and bred from a Gageboro Eugenic daughter.
Hitman is fertility tested, has easy calving figures and five stars for both the replacement and the terminal index.
Tom Brennan’s second lot into the ring, Balleen Crunchy, also sold for €4,000.
Balleen Crunchy is the first son sired by Ballinveney United 2 and also has five stars for both the replacement and terminal index, along with five stars for carcass weight and carcass conformation.
The next top price of the day was €3,900 for Trillick Wrestler.
Wrestler, bred by JJ. Farrell, Trillick Herefords, Co. Longford, is sired by Free Town Nevada and bred from a Steil Gerard cow.
Wrestler has five stars for the replacement index and milk and has low calving difficulty figures.
The Fitzgeralds of Grianan Herefords, Co. Westmeath had a successful day all round. Their first of four lots of the day sold for €3,850, Grianan Va Va Voom.
This July 2020-born bull was sired by Grianan Freddy and bred from a Rathcor Ranger dam, who is one of the most consistent breeders in the herd having bred a number of their former show heifers.
Grianan Va Va Voom has five stars for terminal index and carcass weight.
Fitzgerald’s second lot of the day; Grianan Valentine is also sired by Grianan Parker and bred from a dam from the Orange cow family.
His dam was shown successfully as a calf and is proving to be just as good as a breeder.
Valentine has five stars for both the replacement and the terminal index, milk and carcass conformation and also has easy-calving figures. Valentine was purchased for €3,750.
Grianan Vindicator followed suit when he was purchased online by a fellow Westmeath breeder for €3,650.
This October 2020-born bull was a first-prize winner at the National Calf Show.
Again, sired by Grianan Parker, he was bred from a proven cow line: Grianan Orange R792, who is a full-sister to the twice National Hereford Champion and Firecracker.
Vindicator has four stars for terminal index and easy calving figures.
Another Grianan Parker son and the final lot of the day for Grianan Herefords was Grianan Vortex.
Again, with four stars for terminal index, this bull was bred from a dam from the Orange cow line and a Hollow point Broker dam who is a proven breeder with extra milk.
Vortex has been a standout bull since birth being crowned National Junior Male Champion at the National Hereford Calf Show before being crowned Reserve Champion at the show ahead of the sale.
Vortex was sold to Co. Meath buyers for €3,000.
Among the top earners of the day was Boyanna Apache bred by John Farrell of Boyanna Herefords, Co. Westmeath.
Sired by Allowdale Rambo 738 and bred from a Bowmont Storm and Glaslough Esquire dam – Apache was purchased by a Co. Cork breeder for €3,700.
Apache has five stars for the replacement index and five stars for carcass conformation.
Also selling for €3,700 on the day was Tooma Eubank exhibited by Alan Gibbons of Carrowboy 1 Herefords.
Eubank was sired by Gageboro Morgan and bred from a Kye Rodge 553 daughter. Eubank is bred from easy-calving bloodlines.
Wexford breeder, Glenn Jacob of Dunsinane Herefords, also had an empty trailer returning home when he sold Dunsinane Samson for €3,200 to a fellow Westmeath breeder.
Sired by Karoonda Sampson – this five-star terminal index bull was bred from a heifer, Dunsinane Fiona 9th.
Samson also has a four-star replacement index and easy calving figures.
A number of bulls sold for €3,000 on the day including;
Joe O’Connor of Boveen Herefords, Co. Offaly secured €3,000 for two lots:
- Boveen Usain, sired by Gageboro Morgan and bred from a Glaslough Esquire granddaughter;
- Boveen Uriah, bred from Ballyvlinngold Captain, a Cill Cormaic Kasper son and a Smithston Darby granddaughter.
Peter Cooke of Bonlea Herefords, Tipperary, also secured €3,000 for Bonleapoll 1 Calvinharris.
This September 2020-bull is sired by Gouldingpoll 1 Superstar, a son of Gouldingpoll 1 Duchess 591 who was National Hereford Champion, and bred from a Glaslough cow.
He has five stars for replacement and terminal index and was a prize winner at the National Hereford Calf Show 2021.
Tullyviewpoll 1 Rocky, bred by Michael Kinahan of Tullyview Herefords, Co. Westmeath, also sold for €3,000.
This five-star terminal bull is bred from Fabb 1 Northern Star and bred from Corlismore Oyster 916.
Keenagh Rio also sold for €3,000 to a fellow breeder from Northern Ireland.
Bred by Edwin and Robert Jones of Keenagh Herefords, Co. Longford, Rio is a Pute Nascar son and a Cedar Liam daughter.
Rio was the overall Male Champion during the National Hereford Calf Show 2021.
Heifer sale
There was also a selection of heifers for sale on Saturday. The top-priced heifer on the day was €2,600 for Kye Lady 915 who was purchased by a breeder from Northern Ireland.
This July 2020 heifer was sired by Pulham Ranger and bred from a Glaslough Rooney dam. She is scanned in calf to Corlismore Commander 080.
The Irish Hereford Breed Society congratulated all exhibitors buyers the best of luck with their purchases.
The society also expressed its thanks to Mr. William McMordie for judging the show and to the newly appointed IHBS auctioneer for 2022, Mr. Eamonn Gaffney, who conducted the sale.
The society also extended its thanks to Irish Hereford Prime for sponsoring the sale by awarding €250 to the buyers of each of the 18 bulls that sold for over €3,000.
The full commission from this sale and the next Hereford sale at GVM Kilmallock Mart next month will be donated to the Irish Red Cross/Ukraine Crisis Appeal.
The society raised a total of €4,465 from the Tullamore sale alone for the cause.