The tweeting farmer this week on @IrelandsFarmers is Catherina Cunnane from Co. Mayo. She is a second level student in St Louis Community School who enjoys helping out on the family farm with her father Joseph (who is a full-time farmer) in her spare time.

The Cunnane’s herd of  Aubrac and Aubrac X cows was established in 2010 after searching for a breed that was economical, profitable, easy managed- very docile, short gestations, excellent milk abilities, maternal, high fertility, easy calving,  and excellent kill out results. Catherina admits that this sounded quite demanding, but the Aubrac breed seemed to tick every single one of those boxes!

“The Aubrac is the nearest to perfect that we have came across and we are extremely impressed with their performance and success for us,” says Catherine. “We have found the Aubracs to have excellent kill-out results, consistently grading Us and Es, so they are very capable of meeting beef factory specifications.”

Catherine and her dad joined the Irish Aubrac Society in November of 2011, and their herd is called ‘Derrybrack Aubracs’.

The Aubrac breed was first introduced into Ireland in 1992, when there was a first importation of Aubrac embryos. With a huge generation of interest in the breed, in 1998, the Irish Aubrac Cattle Society was established. There are now 127 pedigree breeders here in Ireland.

Catherina is tweeting about the day-to-day running of the farm, and the hectic schedule that they have to follow, with different jobs and events. She will be including lots of photos and videos about the Aubrac breed and she will be attending two shows – the Bonniconnellan Show and the Tullamore Show. There are seven Aubrac classes at the Tullamore Show.