Leinster Aberdeen Angus Club farm open day at Country Crest, Rathmooney, Lusk, Co. Dublin was described as "long anticipated".

The Country Crest farm is home for the award-winning Rathmooney Herd of Angus cows.

The farm operation also boasts cattle fattening facilities that are amongst the best seen anywhere in Ireland.

The event was facilitated with the kind permission of Gabriel and Micheal Hoey along with farm manager Niall Maguire.

The farm open day was part of the Leinster Club's Autumn Angus spectacular, which consisted of:

A herd competition;
Farm open day;
Club calf finals at the Royal Meath Show in Trim.

After introductions were made at the farm by Micheal Hoey, the group was brought on a detailed tour of the cattle fattening facilities.

Farm manager Niall Maguire gave a breakdown, explaining the three different feeding programmes being run on the farm.

Approximately 1,500 cattle are finished on the farm annually.

One of the cattle groups viewed at the open day was a batch of approximately 400 Angus and Hereford-cross dairy steers and heifers.

These cattle were bought in late February with an average weight of 380kg.

The batch of cattle was grazed outdoors until early September when they were then housed.

The average weight is of the batch at housing was 500kg. For finishing, cattle are put on an extensive finishing diet for 50 days.

The target liveweight of the heifers at slaughter is 600kg and for steers, the target is 650kg live weight.

As well as this system, two other cattle fattening systems are also run on the farm:

300 heavy Angus and Hereford cross steers are bought at an average weight of 550kg and finished indoors on a 70-day diet and slaughtered at an average 680-700kg live weight;
800 continental-bred heifers are bought at 550-600kg and finished on a 70-90 day diet and slaughtered at approximately 700-750kg live weight.

The majority of the cattle's feed diet is grown on the farm.

For the finishing diet, animals are fed a mix of grass and maize silage as well as chopped potatoes, wheat straw, maize meal blend, and minerals.

The beef produced from the cattle is used in the farm shop as well as for pre-packed meals, which is another business interest of the farm owners.

Ballymaguire Foods

Once the farm tour was complete, the group was then invited for a ribeye steak lunch "which was some of the best steaks any of us have had", according to the regional cattle breeding group.

During the lunch, the Leinster Aberdeen Angus club gave the results of the herd competition, which was judged by James Morrison and Sam Matchett from Northern Ireland.

Prizes were given out to the winners of the various sections of the herd competition and gifts were then given to the hosts and sponsors of the open day and also to other club event winners.

Herd competition results

The winners of the herd competition were as follows:

Small Herd

Country Crest – Gabriel Hoey
Ballykilroe – Eoin Robinson
Ardnacraney – Paddy and John Hickey

Medium Herd

Killucan – John Gilmartin
Priestown – Fran Whelan
Killough – Colin Fitzsimons

Large Herd

Liss – John and Sean McEnroe
Pubblestown – John Canty

Other awards given included:

Best New Entrant: John Gilmartin from Killucan, Co. Westmeath;
Best cow Family: Elsie family from Pubblestown, Co. Meath;
Stock Bull: Liss Emotions W000;
Senior Bull Calf: Rathmooney Baker B178;
Junior Bull Calf: Pubblestown Enda C748;
Senior Heifer Calf: Rathmooney Elodie B179;
Junior Heifer Calf: Killucan Kimmy C312.

After the awards, the tour group viewed the pedigree Rathmooney Angus herd at Country Crest, winner of the small herds section in the herd competition.

On Sunday, September 6, the club calf finals were held at the Royal Meath Show in Trim, Co. Meath.

There were over 30 Angus calves exhibited over seven classes, with new breeders Pat and John Hickey taking home the overall champion with their March-born heifer.

Leo McEnroe took home reserve with his September-born heifer.

The Leinster Aberdeen Angus club thanked the Hoey family and the team at Country Crest for hosting the open day.