Tullamore Farm will hold its annual sale of in-calf and maiden heifers on Wednesday 25 October at 8pm.

The sale will include 20 in-calf heifers and seven maiden heifers. All heifers are genotyped four or five stars on the replacement index and are eligible for the SCEP scheme.

All heifers are spring 2022-born, with most sired by AI sires such as Tomschoice Imperial, Brooklands Marco, HJD, OHD, Norman Inventor, Clonagh Frosty KIng and Curaheen Earp.

Heifers have been bred to calve at two years old in January, February and March 2024 and are in-calf to LM2014, EBY, Brooklands Marco and a Salers stock bull.

All heifers have been scanned with dates for AI and natural service. Eight of the heifers in this year’s sale were bred using sexed female semen and all are scanned carrying heifer calves.

The average replacement index of the group is €134. The breeding programme on Tullamore Farm is centred on having a good functional R grade cow capable of breeding R or U grade progeny.

There is an EBY-sired heifer in this year’s sale with a replacement index of €168, while there is also a Curaheen Earp-sired heifer with a replacement index of €172.

When selecting AI bulls for use on the farm, the replacement index is number one, with focus on breeding good functional cows capable of making future replacements for the suckler herd.

It’s not all about figures and the animals also have to perform on the farm to earn their keep. The average replacement index of the Tullamore suckler herd is €135. Within that is a +9.5kg for daughter milk and a 14kg figure for carcase weight.

Good figures

All heifers have very good milk and fertility figures and nearly all heifers have high carcase weight and carcase conformation figures.

The average carcase weight figure for the group is +19.75kg, which is 1.5kg ahead of last year’s batch of heifers, while the average milk figure is 4.82kg.

Heifers have been selected for the sale based on a combination of genetics and visual appearance, keeping docility to the forefront of our mind.

Online bidding

The sale will commence at 8pm, with both ringside and online bidding available on the night. Online bidding is via the Irish Farmers Journal MartBids platform.

Prospective purchasers are advised to register to bid online on www.martbids.ie and apply for permission from Roscrea Mart to bid. The mart has asked that all bidding registrations be complete by Monday 23 October to make sure that permissions are granted in time before the sale. For bidding enquiries, contact Roscrea Mart on 0505-21687.

For people who wish to view the heifers before the sale and bid online without attending the mart, heifers can be viewed on farm before the sale between now and the sale date. Contact Shaun Diver on 087-217 5486 to arrange a viewing.

Transport can be arranged with the mart. The sale will be streamed live on martbids.ie with a full sale report inside next week’s Irish Farmers Journal.