The strong maternal traits and beef finishing capabilities of Stabiliser cattle were brought to the fore at an event organised by The Stabiliser Cattle Company (SCC) in Kilkenny Livestock Mart on Monday.On the evening, guest speakers included Richard Fuller of SCC, Andrew Cromie of ICBF and Lee Leachman, a world-famous cattle breeder from the US and co-owner of the Leachman Cattle Company.
The strong maternal traits and beef finishing capabilities of Stabiliser cattle were brought to the fore at an event organised by The Stabiliser Cattle Company (SCC) in Kilkenny Livestock Mart on Monday.
On the evening, guest speakers included Richard Fuller of SCC, Andrew Cromie of ICBF and Lee Leachman, a world-famous cattle breeder from the US and co-owner of the Leachman Cattle Company.
The audience was also given a livestock demonstration in the ring, with cattle on show from Tipperary Stabiliser breeder Sean Hayden.
Richard Fuller.
Bonuses
Richard Fuller explained the history of the Stabiliser Cattle Company, which is responsible for bringing the breed to the UK. “The Stabiliser Cattle Company is UK-based,” he said. “It started with 50 embryos imported from the US in 1999. Now there are 62,155 Stabiliser cattle across the UK and Ireland.”
He went on to explain the role company has in managing the breed. “The Stabiliser Cattle Company has the ‘Stabiliser’ trademark name and it also owns of all of the data that is collected by farmers.” Furthermore, he said that all breeders are required to sign multiplier agreement contracts and they must carry out performance recording on all stock.
When this was being outlined, farmers’ expressions were somewhat hesitant. However, Fuller then outlined a bonus system available for the breed, to which farmers listened keenly. The bonus, he explained, is offered on Stabiliser cattle slaughtered by a named factory, to be supplied into Morrisons supermarkets in the UK. A bonus of 10p is available for bulls and 15p is available for heifers that meet the following requirements:
Bulls must be 12 to 14 months of age.Carcase weight must be between 300kg and 400kg.Carcase grades must be R3, R4L and U-4L.At present, this bonus is available only in England and Northern Ireland. However, farmers were told there is work being carried out to secure contracts for southern breeders also. “Right now, it is a supply issue,” he said.
Fuller also expressed his disapproval of the grading system employed across the UK and Ireland. He said: “The thing that really annoys me is the EUROP grading system. It’s too geared towards terminal traits and the national breeding is already top-heavy on those. It doesn’t reward anyone for eating quality and we have a low level of eating satisfaction in our beef from consumers.”
Andrew Cromie.
Genetics
Andrew Cromie gave an update on the current breeding indices generated by ICBF. He said: “You will not find a database like the one we have here in Ireland anywhere else in the world.” He added that “breed societies are groups of people of differing views and it is our job to pull these all together”.
On breeding in Ireland, he acknowledged that “in the past, we had too much focus on output traits and not on replacement traits”. However, he also said the ICBF is the way forward for breeding in Ireland, saying: “If you want to generate better replacements, you need access to better bulls. To get better bulls, breed societies need better data and the ICBF can provide that.”
This event did highlight the benefits the Stabiliser breed can contribute to the Irish suckler herd, particularly when all parties say that more focus needs to be put on maternal traits. The possibility of a bonus also sounds enticing. However, with no access to this bonus for cattle from the Republic yet, this may be a long way off, particularly in the case of a hard Brexit.
The finishing capability of these cattle is very strong, with excellent carcase weights and grades being achieved on farms throughout the UK and Ireland. However, farmers must also be cautious that Stabiliser cattle typically perform poorly in sales rings, something the breeders openly admitted themselves, and something live sellers must also be aware of.
Livestock demonstration
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