14 March 2025
‘A farmers’ guide to suckler breeding’ focus of upcoming webinar series
The Future Beef team is hosting a series of webinars this March and April, which will focus on a farmers’ guide to suckler breeding.
Over the course of the three night webinar series, topics such as pre-breeding essentials, breeding the ideal cow, and the latest technologies and how to use them properly will be covered.
Pre-breeding essentials webinar
The first webinar in the series, which takes place on Tuesday, 18 March at 8pm will focus on pre-breeding essentials. The webinar, which will be chaired by James Mullane, Teagasc Future Beef Advisor, will cover topics such as health and vaccinations, pre-breeding scans, heifer selection, heat detection and teaser bulls, bull management, and buying a bull and bull management. Other speakers on the night include: Olivia Hynes, Future Beef farmer from Co. Roscommon; Dr. Colin Byrne, Ruminant Nutritionist at Nutriobio Ltd; and Donal Lynch, Tullamore Vet Clinic.
Key topics covered in this webinar include:
- Health and vaccinations: Why pre-breeding vaccinations are crucial for herd fertility;
- Pre-breeding scans: Are they necessary? Understanding their role in breeding success;
- Heifer selection: Can heifers calve at two years old? Insights from Olivia Hynes and scientific analysis by Dr. Colin Byrne;
- Heat detection and teaser bulls: What are teaser bulls, why use them, and their cost-effectiveness?
- Bull management: Key fertility testing strategies and selection tips for herd improvement
- Buying a bull and bull management: How to select, test fertility, and optimise bull management for maximum breeding success.
Breeding the ideal cow
The second webinar in the series, which takes place on Tuesday, 25 March at 8pm will focus on breeding the ideal cow. The webinar, which will be chaired by Dr. Peter Doyle, Teagasc Grange, will cover topics such as what is the ideal cow, bull selection, improving herd genetics, and understanding the role of myostatin genes in cattle breeding.
Key topics covered in this webinar include:
- What is the ideal cow? How to use genetic traits to breed the perfect cow for your system;
- Bull selection: What matters most for your farm; milk production, carcass quality or conformation?
- Expert discussion: Rosalish Goulding; Chris Daly, ICBF; and Ger McSweeney, Future Beef Farmer, Cork, will share insights on improving herd genetics as part of the expert discussion;
- Myostatin Genes: Understanding their role in cattle breeding:
- What are myostatin genes?
- How to identify them in your cows or bulls;
- Using them to enhance herd performance while avoiding pitfalls;
- Insights from Dr. Cliona Ryan, Geneticist, Teagasc.
The latest technologies and how to use them
The final webinar in the series, which takes place on Tuesday, 1 April at 8pm, will focus on the latest technologies and how to use them properly. The webinar, which will be chaired by Aisling Molloy, Teagasc Future Beef Advisor, will cover topics such as synchronisation in cattle breeding, sexed semen, embryo transfer, and a real-world experience with AI and synchronisation.
Key topics covered in this webinar include:
- Synchronisation in cattle breeding: Why use synchronisation? Learn about its benefits, animal selection, timing, procedures, costs and success rates with expert insights from Professor David Kenny, Head of Animal & Bioscience Department, Teagasc;
- Sexed semen: Should you reduce the number of heifers bred or maximise the number of bulls? Get the facts on optimising your breeding strategy;
- Embryo transfer: What is embryo transfer? Understand its pros, cons, pitfalls and costs with expert Daire Markham from Embryos Ireland;
- Real-world experience with AI and synchronisation: Billy Fraher, Teagasc Kildalton Technician, shares his 20+ years of experience in AI, synchronisation and sexed semen usage at Kildalton College and his own farm.
For more information and to register for these webinars, visit here.