Offaly suckler farmer Tom Groome has a unique connection to ICBF’s Tully Test Centre. In July 2012, four Limousin weanling bulls from Tom’s herd became the first commercial cattle to arrive at Tully. Today, Tom continues to focus on efficient suckler breeding, using 100% AI and selecting genetics that balance Replacement Index with strong carcass traits.
Meet Offaly Suckler Farmer Tom Groome
Tom Groome is farming in the north eastern corner of Offaly just outside the town of Edenderry. Toms love of farming began as a child as his parents had a small holding where they kept a couple of cows and also bought in some dairy beef calves. Tom spent 33 years working as a butcher whilst carefully building his farm business over the course of many years. He is now running an operation of about 75 acres between both owned and rented land. Since 2009 he has also been working as an AI technician for Dovea and has become a familiar sight in the area as he serves his large client base of both dairy and beef farmers.
Breeding for Efficiency and Performance
Tom runs his 40-cow suckler herd to strict commercial principles and has been completely closed for the last number of years. Unsurprisingly, the breeding is 100% AI and he is a strong believer in inseminating plenty of heifers to ensure he can cull hard on the cow side in pursuit of better efficiency and performance. When selecting bulls Tom is looking to strike a balance between a high Replacement Index combined with strong carcass traits.
Strong Calving Performance
Calving is split between 60% autumn and 40% in the spring with all heifers calving at 2 years old. The most recent Calving Report on the ICBF database returns an exceptionally high level of performance. The herd returned an average calving interval of only 370 days compared to the national average of 396 days. Added to this is a Calves per cow per year figure of 0.93 compared to the national average of 0.85. To achieve these figures in a 100% AI system displays the high standard of management which Tom brings to the business. In recent years all the weanlings have been sold from the yard to exporters at around 350 to 410 kgs which Toms finds a very efficient and simple way of doing business.
Balancing Replacement and Terminal Traits
The average index of the cow herd is a solid €114 whilst the young heifers average is sitting at an impressive €149. The cow herd is made up of many breeds with Limousin, Simmental and Belgian Blues well represented and some Charolais joining the herd in recent years. Table 1 below displays the Eurostar profile of the herd and demonstrates the balance between Replacement and Terminal traits which Tom aims for when assembling his team of bulls.
A Standout Cow in Tom’s Herd
One of Toms favourite cows in the herd is tag 372215585020711. Born in 2019 and sired by the Gene Ireland tested Castleview Casino (CWI), this cow has a Replacement Index of €132, a Daughter Milk pta of 4.7 kgs and a Daughter Calving Interval pta of -3.17 days . These indexes are backed up by her own impressive on farm performance. She first calved at 22 months and has since had 6 unassisted calvings with an average calving interval of just 363 days. She was 600 kgs when last weighed in April 2025. Her progeny performance data is displayed in more detail in Table 2 below. Two of her daughters have been retained in the herd and are also performing very well.
Supplying the First Commercial Cattle to Tully
A truly unique feature of this herd is the fact that the very first commercial animals to ever arrive at the Tully Test Centre in Co Kildare came from Toms herd. This was in July 2012 and was comprised of 4 Limousin weanling bulls. Their average weight at the time of purchase was 390 kgs. These bulls (see Picture 1 below) were purchased at €2.75 per kg which at the time was the top 1/3 average price for bull weanlings of that weight. It is incredible to see the increase in cattle prices since then with the equivalent animals making €5.80 per kg as per the MartBids Data in the Irish Farmers Journal on 15th October 2026. This translates into an extra €1189 per head in sale price which has been a huge boost to the suckler industry in recent years.
Learn More About the Tully Test Centre
To learn more about what happens at the Tully Test Centre please visit https://www.icbf.com/beef-dairy-research-centre-tully/