Choosing bulls to improve traits that are of real economic and environmental value
The Irish Hereford Prime beef producer group is committed to improving the economic and environmental value of our beef production through a rigorous selection process for our bull panel. By carefully choosing bulls that possess traits of real significance, we aim to sire the next generation of beef progeny that will bring substantial benefits to both farmers and consumers. In our pursuit of sustainability, the focus lies on measurable traits that contribute to animal performance. The two latest additions to the Irish Hereford Prime bull panel are both genotyped as ranking in the top 1% across all breeds in terms of Meat Eating Quality for the traits of Tenderness, Juiciness and Flavour.
HE8547 is a homozygous polled Hereford bull called Chestnutpoll 1 Star 45 and was bred by Matthew O’Connor, Rathmore, Co.Kerry. The bull is genotyped in the top 10% of the Hereford breed for carcass weight, carcass conformation and dairy calving difficulty and is in the top 5% of the breed for gestation length and overall Dairy Beef Index.
The next bull HE8935 is also a homozygous polled Hereford bull named Ringfort 1 Carlos bred by Neil Twomey, Banteer, Co.Cork. This bull is genotyped 5 star within breed across all three indices – Replacement, Terminal and Dairy Beef. The bull is in the top 5% of the breed for gestation length and overall Dairy Beef Index.
Continuing to invest heavily in our beef genetics sustainability program, Irish Hereford Prime see this Hereford AI sires initiative, in partnership with Dovea Genetics, as one of the main pillars of an enhanced sustainability policy for our beef brand. Following on from the initial purchase of three bulls in the first year of the program in 2021, these additional two new Hereford sires were sourced in 2022. Straws from all five bulls on the program are available for use in the upcoming breeding season, with each of the five bulls now boasting 5 stars across breed on the Dairy Beef Index in the latest ICBF evaluation.
The first calves from the initial three bulls are currently arriving on the ground and our progeny look very promising with ease of calving and short gestation remaining key. Farmers interested in sourcing AI straws from any of the five bulls on the program are welcome to make enquiries: info@irishherefordprime.com