A new AI company has been announced in the Irish market. Bó Sires was launched in January 2023 by Martin Flanagan and Neil Lahart and is home to dairy genetics from KI Kampen, Veecom, Coopex and beef genetics from Coney Island Genetics.

“We established Bó Sires to bring something different to the table. We’ve focused on daughter-proven bulls that have high components, from cow families that have a track record of producing cows that will last. Longevity is often overlooked; the cow that you don’t have to replace is the most profitable,” says Flanagan.

Neil Lahart, from Co Kilkenny, has worked in the Irish AI industry as both a sales adviser and an AI technician for over 20 years.

“We wanted to widen the selection of bulls available to the Irish dairy farmer. We’ve spent a lot of time looking at cows in the Netherlands, and the cows we saw there convinced us that these bulls will work here,” says Lahart.

Farmers Wish.

“We both have a good understanding of what works on dairy farms, and getting bulls with the right numbers was a priority for us. The progeny of KI Kampen bulls are performing well in Ireland over several years. Bulls like Big Position (FR5656), Big Winner (FR2125) and Youri (FR5722) are well-known in Ireland.”

Bó Sires also caters for the farmer looking for Montbéliarde genetics, which are sourced from Coopex in France.

How it works

Ferréol Roche, export sales manager with Coopex Montbéliarde, explained how the breeding programme works.

We have access to data from over 392,000 milking cows, which helps us to give reliability to our bull proofs

“Coopex works with 15,000 Montbéliarde breeders to make our breeding programme as efficient as possible. We have access to data from over 392,000 milking cows, which helps us to give reliability to our bull proofs.

“We produce in excess of 2.1m units of semen each year. Coopex has been involved in the development of Irish Montbéliardes for many years, through semen sales and sourcing stock for farmers. We are happy to start our partnership with Neil and Martin.”

Beef genetics offered by Bó Sires have been sourced in conjunction with Coney Island Genetics, based in Co Roscommon. Brendan Regan, general manager, sources many of the stud’s bulls from Ireland.

Regan says: “One example of such a bull is Brackan Ruben (LM7641), a Limousin bull sired by Tomschoice Lexicon. Ruben is number two for terminal index with a terminal index of €191. Coupled with this, he has a DBI of €180, making him well suited to suckler and dairy farmers. Drumcrow Savoy (AA6999) is another Coney Island sourced sire, an Angus bull sired by Cashelane Lord Jeremy. Savoy has a calving ease figure of 1.2% on beef cows and 2.3% on beef heifers.”

Bó Sires is working with a small team on the ground. John Mooney covers sales in the southeast, while James Waters acts as sales adviser for the northwest.