George Steacy runs a pedigree Parthenaise herd near Gorey, Co. Wexford and is participating in the Whole Herd Performance Recording program. It operates under the herd name Wingfield and consists of 20 pedigree Parthenaise breeding cows and a number of breeding bulls. George farms on his own but has his son Harry to help with training the cattle for showing.
The first pedigree Parthenaise bought into the herd was in 2007. These were maiden heifers and a stockbull from France. The heifers were Aquarelle and Attitude and the stockbull was Asterosufi, bought from Pascal Elie. A further purchase was made in 2010, again a maiden French heifer. This was Evadebelle, from Etienne Passebon.
The Wingfield herd has had considerable show success over the years. The high point was winning Reserve Overall Champion at Tullamore Show in 2015 with a two year old bull, Wingfield Jordan. The herd has an established reputation and has sold bulls to commercial farmers and Parthenaise breeders all over Ireland. Some of the most influential bulls used include: Ronchon, Richelieu, Azur, Bolide, Dakar, Kyle herd Ivan, Bourvil, Vulain and Aioli.
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Within the herd there are some very high replacement index cows but it’s the next generation of Wingfield heifers that is driving this. The average replacement index for the females is €81, which is four star across breed. The average daughter calving interval of the herd is -0.23 which is above the Parthenaise average. The terminal index is where the herd really excels having an average index of €132 for the cows. This is driven by carcass weight and conformation for the Wingfield herd.
George has a number of bulls that feature highly on the Stockbull finder including the highest bull on both the Replacement and Terminal Index within the Parthenaise breed – Wingfield Lukas.
What attracted you to WHPR?
“I think it is very important to have an independent assessment and recording of the quality and weight of pedigree bulls for sale. I am trying to improve the genetic potential of my herd and I get great satisfaction from seeing the star rating of my cattle improve with the use of quality high indexed AI bulls.”
To view bulls that have been weight recorded by ICBF, click the link below to go to the Stockbull Finder. This is an online sales section for bulls from WHPR herds. Search by breed and county to filter down selections!
Stock Bull Finder