Bertie Mannion is a pedigree cattle breeder and sheep farmer based in Curraghboy, Athlone, Co. Roscommon.

He is farming with the help of wife Kathleen and their sons, Alan and David.

Bertie Mannion is well known in pedigree cattle breeding circles and also has a great interest in GAA, hunting and horseracing.

But he may be best known in the sheep trade from his previous role in sheep procurement at Kepak Athleague, Co. Roscommon.

His pedigree Limousin herd is known as the Ballyline Limousin Herd, and it is set to host a production sale of 15 heifers on the weekend of Saturday, October 11.

The sale will take place via timed auction on MartEye in association with Mid Tipperary Co-Operative Livestock Mart (Thurles Mart) with bidding drawing to a close on Monday, October 13, at 7:00p.m.

Included in the sale is a selection of in-calf heifers, maiden heifers, and weanling heifers. On-farm viewing will be permitted from 2:00p.m-5:00p.m. on Saturday, October 11.

Ballyline Limousin Herd

In a recent post on the Irish Limousin Cattle Society website, Bertie explained that his journey into pedigree Limousin cattle began in 1987 when he and his late brother Ollie purchased their first Limousin cow, Castle Venetia at a society sale in Naas, Co. Kildare for Ir£3,600 (Irish punts).

The in-calf cow was was bred by Nicholas and Barbara Grubb, and proved to be an excellent foundation female for their herd.

Bertie said: “Venetia was the matriarch and all our cows descended from her.

“My ideal cow has good, wide plates which help at calving, not too much muscle – muscle is great on a bull, but not on a cow – and enough milk to raise a healthy calf. Venetia ticked all the boxes.”

Their purchase calved just three weeks after the sale, delivering a bull calf that sold for Ir£3,000. Over the years, Venetia had five bulls and five heifer calves and became a cornerstone of their herd’s success.

For anyone starting out in breeding, Bertie’s advice is: “Sourcing a good foundation cow is key.

“If there’s anything about an animal you dislike, don’t keep her. It’s better to start with the right stock.”

After spending a year studying agriculture at University College Dublin (UCD), Bertie found his passion for farming calling him home.

He left his studies when he was offered a job procuring sheep with Kepak, Athleague, who he continued to work with until he retired eight years ago.

In 1997, tragedy struck when Bertie’s brother Ollie died suddenly at the age of 33 due to cardiomyopathy.

“Ollie and I were very close,” Bertie said.

“We ran the herd together; Ollie was at home farming full-time while I worked with Kepak.

“A piece of advice I received (which is a quote from Winston Churchill) has stayed with me through difficult times: ‘If you’re going through hell, keep going.’”

Over the years, Bertie has received advice from mentors, including Nicholas Grubb and Paul Sykes, who have helped guide the development of the herd.

The Mannion family calves their cows in February and March, with first-time heifers calving between 30-33 months-of-age.

Breeding strategy

Bertie said that he keeps an eye on breeding indexes but he is not led by them.

In terms of breeding strategy, he said: “Most of our cows are by Plumtree Fantastic, Mereside Godolphin, and Castleview Gazelle.

“We are happy with our cow type, so the challenge is finding bulls that cross well with them.

“We’ve had success with Mereside Godolphin and Plumtree Fantastic, and we have some cows in calf to what we hope will be the next crop of bulls to cross well with our cows.”

Some of these bulls include:

Slieve Pablo (LM7266);
Ewdenvale Ivor (LM2104);
Knock Msport (LM9478).

In recent years, the Ballyline herd has performed strongly at society sales, achieving red rosettes and impressive prices for its progeny.

Outside of cattle farming, Bertie said he enjoys rough shooting with his German pointers and going to the races.

He said: “We have two thoroughbred broodmares, and we love attending races.

“While not every day is a win, we’ve had some success, which makes the losses feel a bit easier to take.

“I forgot to mention – we also have 400 ewes,” he added.

Ballyline Limousin Herd

Breeding strategy

Related Stories:

Over 6,100 farmers apply for tranche 9 of TAMS – DAFM

Research: Cost most important for Irish consumers buying food

Pig farmer conference to take place next month

Ballyline Limousin Herd

Bertie Mannion set to host Limousin heifer production sale