In the 2011 newsletter we reported on suckler farmer Tom Halpin from Carlanstown, Co. Meath. At the time Tom was operating a calf to weaning/store type system from his 70 suckler cows. The cows were made up of predominantly Charolais X Simmental or Charolais X Limousin, with a Simmental bull used to breed replacements and a Charolais bull used on the rest of the herd. The crosses were working exceptionally well for Tom at the time with the majority of the weanlings going straight for the export market. The weight gain of the calves on their mother’s meant Tom could get his weanlings up to 400kgs very quickly at low costs.

Today the herd is made up of 90 breeding females, most of which are bred from Simmental and Charolais sires with good maternal traits. The cow type on the farm today is the same as it was back in 2011. One bull that has had a major impact on the herd was the previous Charolais stock bull, a son of ‘Organdi’. Tom explained ‘he left outstanding weanlings that were great sellers and wonderful cows that could calve themselves with lots of milk.’ The stock bulls in use on the farm at present are a Limousin bull with good maternal traits that was purchased to breed replacements and a Charolais bull by ‘Nelson’ which is crossed on the rest of the herd.

Heifers are either finished of the farm or sold as forward stores.  As mentioned before most of the male weanlings go straight for shipping meaning calf quality must be of a very high standard. Male progeny is sold in two groups, with spring born bulls being sold in December at over 400kg and summer born bulls sold in early July under 500kg. Last year’s spring born bulls which were born in April 2013 averaged 360kgs live weight in October at weaning, meaning they had an average daily live weight gain of 1.61 kg/day from birth to weaning. The heifers which were also born in April 2013 averaged 286kgs live weight in October at weaning giving them an average daily live weight gain of 1.28 kg/day. This year’s spring 2014 born calves most of which are by the current ‘Charolais’ stock bull were weighed on the 26^th of July and had an average daily live weight gain of 1.62 kg/day from birth.

There is no doubt that the weight for age and quality of the calves on the farm are excellent. However cow performance on the farm is also of a very high standard. The herd has a very tight calving pattern with a calving interval of 365 days. Calf Mortality on the farm is well below the national average at 0% and calves born per cow per year is 0.92, which is way above the national average. It must also be noted that the gross margin per hectare of the cattle enterprise on the farm has risen from €575 in 2011 to €767 in 2013.

 One can attribute the progress and performance of Tom’s suckler herd to a number of factors including grassland management, herd health, stockman ship and so on. However the role played by both his previous and present Charolais stock bulls must be acknowledged. The quality and live weight gain of their calves at grass are exceptional, not to mention the wonderful mothering ability of their daughters.

Mark Maxwell from Ballynagore, Co. Westmeath runs a 100 cow suckler herd focused on finishing progeny at 24 months. The herd is split 50-50 between autumn and spring calving. The cow types on the farm are predominantly Angus, Hereford and Simmental cross cows closely linked the Dairy herd. Mark’s cow type is very much focused on good maternal traits, in order to achieve maximum weight for age at weaning from his progeny. The breed of terminal sire used is always Charolais through stock bulls and AI. “I want cattle that are as heavy as possible at 2 year old, and the Charolais gives me this” says Mark.

At present male progeny are killed as steers at an average carcass weight of 420kgs and the heifers are killed at an average carcass weight of 320kgs. However Mark’s aim in the future is to slaughter all spring born steers at 24 months and heifers at 22 months. Mark is achieving at present a 400kg carcass at 24 months from his charolais steers, comparable with some bull beef systems. This system is also allowing Mark to benefit from the carcass grids that have been put in place by the meat factories and the QA bonus.

Sire selection is based on targeting Charolais sires that add size, shape with good growth rates. The two stock bulls on the farm at present are ‘Rathbeg Ewan’ a son of ‘Rathbeg Casper’ and ‘Rathbeg Dean’ a son of ‘Rathbeg Amazing’. Both are very easy calving sires with calving figures of 7.1% and 6.4%. Two stock bulls that bred well for Mark in the past were sons of ‘Prime Roberto’ and ‘Major’. It must be noted that “40% of the herd is crossed with Charolais AI bulls every year in order to get better calves with higher growth rates” explains Mark. Charolais bulls that have bred well for mark in AI are CF 85, Limkiln Bosco, CXY, Crossmolina Euro and Prime Roberto. “They give me great growth rates, with outstanding weight for age.”

The last batch of 22 steers to leave the farm were killed at 27 months at an average carcass weight of 422kgs, with a grade average of R=3+. If Mark was to kill these steers at 24 months out of the shed like what he has been doing recently, they would leave him with a net margin in the region of €459 per head. The last group of 12 heifers that were killed averaged 314kgs carcass weight with a grade average of R=3+. Mark also killed four bulls last year at an average age of 19 months. They killed out at an average carcass weight of 468kgs with a grade average of U=2+. Mark’s liveweight output (kg/ha) was 504 in 2012 and is set to increase to 763 in 2015. Once again this highlights the efficiency and performance that the charolais as a terminal sire brings to the herd. With a gross margin/ha of €630 in 2012 and a target of €1000 in 2015, there is no doubt the system Mark has in place is giving him the returns he’s looking for.  It is also a reminder of what can be done in calf-beef systems even in such difficult times for beef farmers.