The breeding plan will be in full focus at the Tullamore Farm Open Day. Over the last seven years, the farm has stuck with the same system of producing in-calf heifers that calve at 24 months for sale, along with an under-16-month bull beef production system.

Over the last three years, there has been a concerted effort made to try and pull back the average calving date on the farm. A new shed, completed in 2022, has meant that the farm is now well set up for earlier calving. It’s no easy feat pulling cows back and there is still a proportion of cows calving in late April that we don’t really need.

A decision was taken on the farm to cull hard in 2024 and if some of the later April-calving cows fall out of the system, more heifers will be introduced to the herd in 2025. These will be calving in January 2025, so should help to speed up pulling the average calving date back to late February.

Ideally, calving would commence in mid-January and finish up by the end of March. This year was the exception in terms of turnout date being delayed. In general, we are able to get cows and calves out to grass in March, leaving lots of time before breeding commences in April. The earlier calving date will mean a heavier weanling coming into the shed at the back end of the year and make the cows on the farm work a little harder in terms of weaning heavier calves. This should also help to reduce feed costs in the finishing system.

This March 2023-born bull sired by EBY had a carcase weight of 432kg (60% kill-out). He graded U=3= and came into €2,354 (€5.45/kg)

Breeding details

Sexed semen will also play a larger role in the breeding programme. Heifers were synchronised in 2023 and sexed semen was used. The conception rate ended up at 50%, which was what was expected. Sexed semen is now being used in the mature cows on the farm. The herd is operating at the higher end in terms of replacement index, with the herd currently standing at €128 compared to the national average of €99. Using sexed semen will hopefully drive genetic gain quicker in the herd. As timing of AI is critical to high conception rates when using sexed semen, the farm has taken the decision in spring 2024 to invest in heat detection collars.

The collars will cost €129/cow net of VAT and TAMS grant aid, with an expected lifetime of about five to seven years.

That means it will cost between €18/cow/year and €25/cow/year, depending on how long they last.

In the past, we have shown that our heifers are leaving over €200/head compared to the bulls on the farm, so if we can increase the number of heifers through the use of sexed semen, the system will pay for itself.

The collars also monitor for any health issues.

This February 2023born bull sired by Brooklands Marco killed out at a 416kg carcase (61.6% kill out). He graded U-4- and came into €2,239 (€5.39/kg).

Bull selection

The farm is aiming to breed more heifers, so the replacement index is still central to breeding decisions. However, we are also trying to balance for terminal traits, and working off the very top of the replacement index isn’t an option any more for the farm, without moving completely to Aberdeen Angus breeding.

Some of these bulls don’t have high enough terminal traits for the Tullamore system, so other balanced bulls have been chosen.

We will have a full breakdown of the bulls that we are using on the farm and why we are using them.

This February 2023-born bull sired by Curaheen Earp killed out at 483kg carcase weight (60% kill-out). He graded U=3- and came into €2,539 (€5.30/kg).

Sexed semen usage

We will present the full results of the sexed semen usage on the farm in 2024 in both the cow and heifer groups and also weigh up the pros and cons of investing in the cow monitoring collars in 2024.

Tullamore bull system

Table 1 outlines a 2023-born young bull’s performance on the farm and we will break down the performance further at the open day.