The growth in the Irish dairy cow population has meant the traditional breeds have experienced a renaissance period over the past two years, with dairy farmers very active sourcing stock bulls for dairy herds.

Aberdeen Angus-sired calf registrations were up by 11% in 2017 and Hereford registrations were up by 17%. Dairy farmers looking for easy-calving short-gestation sires have chosen the traditional breeds as they tick these boxes.

Ticking every box for the beef farmer who finishes these calves isn’t as easy. Already we have seen a decline in carcase conformation and weight as the dairy genetics begin to filter through to our slaughter population. While the genetics being used at the moment suit the dairy farmer, it is questionable whether they suit the beef farmer as much.

Joe Deverell has farmed Hereford cattle all his life and has some strong opinions on the role of different breeds in our industry.

“I’m of the firm belief that there is a role for every breed to fulfil different markets and objectives. I’ll hold my hands up and say that in a weanling system, a Hereford bull won’t be the best as it’s hard to get that premium in the mart. If finishing, I personally think traditional breeds are hard to beat in terms of ease of finishing and eating experience. In terms of carbon output, I think there will be a shift to a smaller, more efficient cow in the future and traditional breeds will have a role to play in this.”

Quality confusion

“I get frustrated when people talk about the quality of our beef going down. I personally think the eating quality and standards of production are going up and we should be saying this.

“Carcase conformation and carcase weight may be going down but that’s different. We need to be careful about differentiating these or else we will shoot ourselves in the foot talking down the quality of our beef.”

History

Herefords have been in the family dating back as far as 1930, when Joe’s grandfather Henry Deverell started breeding Herefords in Annagharvey, Tullamore. Joe’s father Bob then operated under the Annagharvey prefix until 1968, when the Ballyaville herd name began. The first females in the herd were Annagharvey Rose Hopeful followed by Annagharvey Queen 2nd.

The herd has an average daughter milk figure of 5kg for its pedigree cows, placing it well above the Hereford breed average of 2.78kg. The average daughter calving interval for the pedigree cows is -2.38 days, which is in the top 20% across all breeds.

The Deverells have a good market for bulls. This has seen the majority of bulls sold at home, often to repeat customers. “ We try and have a bull strong enough to go with cows straight away. We fertility-test everything before sale as an added insurance.”

Figures and stars

“We use them as a tool in the selection process. I wouldn’t say it’s number one on our list but we wouldn’t be without the information that ICBF provide us with. Some purchasers get hung up on figures without looking at the animal and in my mind this isn’t the way to go. Look at your animals first and then use the figures to inform your decision-making. I’d hate to get to a stage where people purchase off paper as for me it’s the love of breeding that drives me on.”

Genetics and selection policy

When we look at sires to use in the herd, easy calving is our number one requirement. There are two reasons for this:

Deverell bull selection criteria

“We cull quite hard on the farm as we have enough heifers coming on every year. Culling younger cows means cows come in to good money in the factory and it keeps our herd young as well. We put a good focus on milk and any cow not rearing a good calf will get road. It’s a lot easier to lose milk than get it back into suckler cows.”

The farm uses a mixture of stockbulls and AI. The two most influential bulls on the herd were Boyanna Hugo and Drumakeenan Do-A-Lot. Other successful sires include Cill Cormaic Generator, Graigue Leader, Kilnagralta Polo, Gageboro Burley, Ballinveny Frankie, Ballinveny Marvel and Killeaney Pompeii. There are two stockbulls currently on farm; Kilsunny Lincoln (who has exceptional figures, being five stars for replacement with an index of €110 and five-star terminal with an index of €79) and Corran Hill Countryboy (who is also a five-star terminal bull).

The future

We will continue to keep things as simple as we can. We are always on the lookout for new genetics and we need to be improving all the time to make genetic progress in the herd. We have built up a good name of breeding quality cattle and our aim is to keep the Deverell name synonymous with Irish Hereford cattle breeding.

WHPR comments

I had no hesitation about joining WHPR as we have been doing on farm recording for many years using software from Agrinet. In the last few years, this is even easier using our smartphones for imputing everything as it happens. We are also sending birth weights and measurements to ICBF for a number of years.

I feel being in WHPR copper fastens what we are already doing and gives buyers the benefits of having an outside body carrying out checks. Because of the numbers of cattle involved, the visit took two full days but we could time it for when the cattle were housed in November. Despite the length of time needed, the visit was conducted with no stress on man or beast.

I feel that pedigree breeders and the stock they produce form the building blocks for the national herd and it is vital that all information is provided to buyers. We have a massive responsibility to make sure all data on pedigree stock is correct and honest.

In 2018, all pedigree breeders should have a cattle scales or access to one, as a bare minimum a birth weight should be on every pedigree calf.

I realise that when a suckler or dairy farmer pays €3,000-€4,000 for a bull, this represents a big investment from any farmer so we want everything to be right for them.

Every time we sell a bull, or a breeding female is a highlight and even better when a repeat buyer comes back to the yard to purchase another stock bull or heifer.