Beef Management: Stock bull purchase and utilisiing good weather

Adam Woods takes a look at some tips when buying a stock bull and getting cattle turned out.

Adam Woods

19 March 2025

Beef Management: Stock bull purchase and utilisiing good weather

Do you want the bull to breed replacements or breed cattle for finishing or maybe you need a bull that ticks both boxes?

Stock Bull purchase: It’s a busy time of year for pedigree bull sales with a lot of sales taking place up and down the country over the next few weeks. A stock bull is an important investment for any farm so it’s important to give it the time to get it right. Do your homework before you purchase the bull. Ask yourself what you want to get out of the bull; live calves are number one so there’s no point going out looking for a bull at 20% calving difficulty if you’re not going to be around to calve the cows. Do you want the bull to breed replacements or breed cattle for finishing or maybe you need a bull that ticks both boxes. It is very hard to find a bull to tick all the boxes. Fertility and milk should be priority if heifers are retained whereas this can be relaxed and terminal traits looked at if breeding animals for slaughter.

Do you want the bull to breed replacements or breed cattle for finishing or maybe you need a bull that ticks both boxes. It is very hard to find a bull to tick all the boxes. Fertility and milk should be priority if heifers are retained whereas this can be relaxed and terminal traits looked at if breeding animals for slaughter.

Stars

Stars have been in the headlines a lot for the last couple of weeks with a number of breed societies deciding not to publish genetic indexes in their catalogues over the next few weeks. The figures are still available, you will just have to look them up before the sale or on your phone at the sale. Participants in the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) need to have calves sired by a genotyped bull that is either four or five star on the terminal or replacement index within or across breed.

Figures aren’t everything but I still think they are an important tool that should be used in stock bull selection. In my mind, purchasers should look at the bull to make sure he is functionally sound, good feet and legs and make sure you like the look of him. You then look at the bloodlines in the catalogue and make sure you are happy with them. The final piece of the jigsaw is the genetic index and stars that the bull has. If you’re in SCEP you have no choice but to purchase a bull that ticks the boxes for the scheme. Buyers should be aware of the health status of a bull prior to purchase. Unless a testing and vaccination programme consistent with your own is run, both the bull and the purchaser’s entire herd stand at risk of disease spread. Make sure he is fertility tested also.

A young bull, particularly in its first year, should not be over worked. A general rule of thumb is one bull can service as many cows as he is months old. The final piece is price. Weanlings are up in price so that means a good stock bull will pay for himself in a short time. Spending the price of 3-4 weanlings at €1,500 each means a stock bull purchase price somewhere between €4,000-€6,000, depending on the quality you are producing. If he’s around for a few years, spending the value of 3-4 weanlings isn’t much.

Good weather: With good weather forecast this week, it’s an ideal chance to get slurry and fertiliser out to encourage grass growing. You also need to maximise the number of animals outdoors while you can to get grass grazed and stimulate growth. Make a point of walking all your fields on the farm at the weekend to assess what grass you have available; you’ll be surprised how much you have and more importantly take action by getting stock out.