Seamus Quinn is milking 90 pedigree registered Montbeliarde cows in Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim, where his herd of cows are producing the goods in the parlour and producing calves worthy of the top price in his local mart in Carrigallen.

The fourth generation farmer took over the farm from his mother and has been enjoying the responsibility alongside his wife and three children.

Seamus was originally milking Friesian cows until he lost his herd to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as mad cow disease, in the early 2000s.

To get back into milking, Seamus "looked for change" and "wanted to go back for something different". At the time, there were a few Montbeliarde herds establishing around him, which he visited and was impressed by.

There was also a Teagasc pedigree herd of Montbeliardes in Ballinamore before closing around 2004, but the herd of cows had caught Seamus' eye.

Seamus contacted David Clarke of Cows.ie and imported 36 in-calf Montbeliarde heifers sourced by Coopex Montbeliarde in France in 2002, as he was convinced that he was getting a cow that could milk and produce a saleable calf.

Montbeliarde herd

Ever since, the Quinns have been gradually growing the herd up to what it is today and, besides buying five Montbeliarde heifers at a mart in 2003, they have remained a closed herd since, building the herd through their own genetics and breeding.

Seamus operates a 50:50 spring and autumn calving split, with calving starting in October and finishing up the following spring in early April.

Operating across a 120ac block of land, the cows do not get to grass most years until the latter stages of the spring due to the heavy land type in the Quinns' part of the country

As Seamus said: "Even in that weather, if you get an inch of rain, we'll be wet again".

In terms of cow performance, Seamus is very happy how the Montbeliarde holds herself and her ability to produce a high yield with solids.

He said that this is accompanied with an "unreal calf value" - he has often got the highest price for calves in Carrigallen mart and made €900 for a Montbeliarde x Belgian Blue calf last year and has been getting up to €600 for a lot of his calves this year.

These bull calves are sold at about 3-5-weeks-of-age, once they are strong enough and fit for selling.

Breeding

Even though, with calf prices like that, Seamus still uses a bit of sexed semen in his herd, as he said, in the last few years, "we haven't got the run of heifers that you want".

In the last couple of years, Seamus has been keeping on up to 25 heifer calves for replacements, but might only end up with about a 20% replacement rate when all is said and done, as the heifers have to be suitable, healthy, and worthwhile to keep on milking.

The use of sexed semen this year will hopefully give Seamus "more freedom to cull harder", as he is aiming for about 35-40 replacement heifer calves to keep on.

This year, Seamus will use Montbeliarde semen on 50% of the herd, of which 40% will consist of sexed semen from Bó Sires and Coopex.

He has upped the amount of Montbeliarde inseminations this year and is using sexed semen as he wants more heifers, as he said "I think there is going to be a shortage of dairy stock in the next two to three years."

Export sales manager and breeding adviser for Coopex Montbéliarde, Ferréol Roche pays a visit to Seamus' farm each year where the cows will be analysed and matched to suitable bulls to drive production, longevity and health.

Seamus does not use any stock bulls on his farm. as he uses 100% artificial insemination (AI) and does all the AI himself.

He has been able to get the timing 100% with sexed semen and never misses heats through the use of Censortech collars.

Speaking about the collars, Seamus said that they are a necessity when using 100% AI as once you get the technology, "you don't realise how many cows you have been missing" before.

The cows that Seamus wants in his herd are cows with good feet, temperament, with a nice size of about 650kg, with good udders and teat placement.

In Seamus' experience, the Montbeliardes generally tick all the boxes above, but he will strategically pick the best performing cows in his herd that also match that criteria to get a Montbeliarde straw.

Sexed semen will only be given to cows that have calved about 60-70 days prior and will be inseminated on their third time in heat since calving.

Cows that come bulling before the 60 day mark or only showing their second heat will receive a conventional straw.

Some of the Montbeliarde bulls used on the farm this year from Bó Sires are as follows:

Skiper (MO1623), with 834kg of milk and 0.32% protein and 0.31% fat, excellent udder type and body capacity;
Sanmarco (MO9887), a chest width improver with 1,387kg of milk and 0.14% protein and 0.3% fat;
Ringostar (MO9884), with 1,239kg of milk and 0.29% protein and 0.26% fat with a big body capacity;
Telido (MO1626), a fertility improver with 973kg of milk with 0.16% protein and 0.28% fat;
Peterpan (MO9445), a bull with 8kg of milk and 0.36% protein and 0.48% fat, an udder and body capacity improver.

The first thing that Seamus will look at is the fat and protein of a particular bull, but he also wants a bull that will give him "a nice even cow that's not too big or small with good depth and body capacity".

"I don't want any hanging udders and you won't get that with Montbeliardes, a cow that is easily managed and, with the Montbeliardes, if they are not calving on their own, you know there is something wrong."

System

Seamus said he fed about 750kg/meal/cow last year and also buys in maize to feed the cows milking through the winter along with top quality silage.

He said that he tries not to overcomplicate the system and notes that the Montbeliarde cows will look after themselves as they are easily managed.

"You can't spend the whole time looking at them, you have to find a bit of time away from them," the Co. Leitrim farmer said.

90-95 cows is what Seamus intends to stay at and he intends to continue breeding top quality Montbeliarde cows as they suit his land type and system very well due to their robustness, strength, power and resilience, longevity, and health.

Seamus expressed that his herd has fantastic fertility with never a problem of getting cows back in calf, adding that the health of the Montbeliarde is brilliant as they have a surreal ability to bounce back after illness or set-backs.

Seamus intends to extend his cubicle shed over the next few years, along with extending his slurry storage in order to keep his slurry until March 1.

He said in his part of the world, the winters can last a very long time and so having extra storage, space, and room for cows will make farming a lot more comfortable for himself and his family.

Cow type from body capacity, feet and legs, udder and teat placement are all clearly outlined in the Bó Sires spring catalogue, providing the farmer with an opportunity to breed for production, health, longevity, functional traits, and cow type.

For more information contact Neil Lahart, 087 095 3744 or Martin Flanagan, 087 1661575