26 April 2025
Breeding both beef and replacements
Future Beef Programme Advisor, Aisling Molloy provides insights into the breeding plans on Aonghusa Fahy’s farm in Co. Galway, and Wesley Browne’s farm Co. Monaghan – two herds looking to complement their cows’ traits with the sires selected.
Aonghusa Fahy
Breeding started on April 24, with 30 cows and eight heifers selected for AI, all with the aim of having 32 females calving down next spring. This year, Aonghusa is using 100% AI and plans to breed his own replacements. Aiding heat detection in this regard is the use of a vasectomised bull, and he’s considering synchronising the heifers.
About the herd and sires selected
The herd is €112 on the Replacement Index, with 16kg for carcass weight, 7.1kg for daughter milk, -0.6 days on daughter calving interval and 0.04 on docility. Aonghusa’s aim is to breed good maternal females with a slightly higher carcass weight and to maintain the milk in the herd. Calving difficulty is also an important consideration when picking bulls as he is working full time off farm.
The bulls that suit Aonghusa’s breeding policy are as follows:
- For heifers: AA4315 and Erebos (LM6172)
- For breeding replacements: Derreen Jack (SI4950), Jalabert, Erebos (LM6172)
- For non-replacements: CH4491, Hideal, Gamin (ZGM) for second calvers, Jalabert
Aonghusa picked his best cows based on their Replacement Index and daughter milk figures. One of the replacement bulls identified to breed to these cows is Derreen Jack (SI4950), who has the following Eurostar figures:
- €129 on the Replacement Index
- €77 on the Terminal Index
- 9% cow calving difficulty at 97% reliability
- 8kg carcass weight
- 82 carcass conformation
- 6kg daughter milk
- -1.65 days daughter calving interval
- -5.12 days on age at finish
For cows not destined to breed replacements, one of the terminal bulls he has selected is Gamin (ZGM), who has the following Eurostar figures:
- €140 on the replacement index
- €140 on the terminal index
- 5% on cow calving difficulty at 99% reliability
- 3 kg carcass weight
- 61 carcass conformation
- -5.25 days on age at finish
Wesley Browne
Wesley Browne’s breeding plan for this year are as follows:
- Saler cross cows will be bred to the Simmental bull
- Simmental cross cows will be bred to a Limousin bull
- The heifers (~30) will be bred to the Angus bull
The Simmental bull is €147 on the Replacement Index and is 5.9% calving difficulty at 86% reliability for cows. He is 12kg for daughter milk and -1.88 days on daughter calving interval so has good maternal traits. He is still strong on terminal traits at 27.8kg carcass weight and 1.53 on carcass conformation, with -6.51 days on age at finish.
These traits are complimenting his cows who are strong on carcass weight at 21kg, good on daughter milk at 5.8kg, -0.12 on daughter calving interval and 0.01 on docility and at €116 on the Replacement Index.
Wesley is debating using the Angus bull on the heifers due to his terminal traits. He is 6.9% on heifer calving difficulty, but only at 52% reliability. He is 23.4kg on carcass weight, which is much higher than the breed average of 7.55kg, but is only 0.53 on carcass conformation. His age at finish is -21.09 days and he is a good maternal bull at 12kg for daughter milk and -1.62 days on daughter calving interval. The heifers will be weighed again before breeding and Wesley will make a final decision on the bull choice then.
For further insights on Wesley Browne’s farm, visit the Future Beef webpage for regular updates.