The Gene Ireland Beef Open Day taking place on Saturday 12th October, will show-case commercial progeny from some of the top AI sires that have gone through the national breeding program over the past number of years. (more…)
Maternal Bull Breeder participant and Hereford breeder Joe Deverell with his best cow Ballyaville Portia and her week old bull calf Ballyaville Hamlet. Portia is 12 ½ years old and has produced 11 calves with an average calving interval of 359 days.
Maternal Bull Breeder participant and Hereford breeder Joe Deverell with his best cow Ballyaville Portia and her week old bull calf Ballyaville Hamlet. (more…)
The 2013 Gene Ireland Beef program has just been launched, with over 2,000 catalogues been posted to suckler herds.This initiative is aimed at improving the quality of our National suckler herd. (more…)
John Ryan picturedwith one of his best pedigree Limousin cows and her heifer calf by ‘Vision’ (VZN).’VZN’ is a ‘5 Star’ bull for ‘Daughter Milk’ at 68% reliability.
The ‘Gurtshane‘ Limousin herd is run by Sean & John Ryan, Gurtshane, Newport, Co. Tipperary. The herd was founded when 8 heifers were purchased from the ‘Cookstown’ and ‘Turraree’ pedigree limousin herds. The Gurtshane herd operates a 100% AI policy.
Lionel Mackey, Ballinclea House, Donard, Co Wicklow
Backround of the herd: In calf heifers were initially purchased in France in 1999. The herd now comprises of approximately 30 breeding Aubrac females. (more…)
Following last week’s release of the HerdPlus® Dairy Calving reports, ICBF can report further improvement has taken place in the fertility performance of the national dairy herd,with the average calving interval having improved by 3 days (more…)
Backround of the herd: The herd goes back to 8 heifers imported from Austria in 1975 by Tom Brickley, Gerard’s father, to found the Anatrim Herd. Further imports have taken place over the years to ensure adequate milk and new traits such as Polled have being introduced. The Celtic herd has now been built up to 52 calving, which starts on 1st December. The aim is to tighten calving into a 3 month period. Embryo transfer is extensively used, with 40% of calves born by ET this past season. (more…)
Background of the herd: The herd was established in 1998, with the first females sourced in Ireland. Cattle were subsequently purchased and imported from France in 2002. The herd now comprises of approximately 100 breeding Salers females.
Maternal Breeding: The herd has an overall replacement index rating of €273, which makes it one of the highest ranking herds in the country, across all breeds.
Top Maternal Cows: One of the top cows in the herd is Knottown Ena (Sired by Gitan). She has a maternal index of €357 (reliability: 46%). She was born on the 17th of November 2004. She has had 7 calves, and is a very hard working cow with an average calving interval of 363 days. A son of this cow, is currently being considered for the Gene Ireland bull breeder program. Another cow of note is the imported French cow, Usance (pictured), who was the winner of the RDS maternal index award in 2013. Again, she boasts a phenomenal replacement index of €375, and is currently with her eighth calf with an average calving interval of 357 days.