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news / commercial herds /PLEASING RETURNS FROM LIMOUSIN SUCKLER HERD
County Armagh suckler herd owners Thomas and Matthew Harrison, who farm on the edge of the River Bann near Portadown, have put their faith in Limousin bloodlines to produce quality cattle. They run 110 suckler cows, most of which are three-quarter-bred Limousins, on 220 acres of land. With plans to increase the herd to 130 cows, they have 15 in-calf heifers ready to join the herd. The herd was established 15 years ago, and during this time several continental breeds of bulls have been used. The Limousin was introduced to the herd seven years ago, and since then the father and son team has found the Limousin to be ideal for breeding suckler replacement stock, as well as producing saleable beef cattle. "We can now breed our own replacement heifers for the suckler herd," explained Thomas, who emphasises the advantage of a closed herd policy to prevent 'buying in' disease. The herd is mainly spring calving, with around 20 cows calving in the autumn. "We have found the Limousin cows to be fertile and very hardy. They are easy to manage and make good mothers," said Matthew, who gained a national diploma in agriculture from Greenmount College. Before returning home to farm full-time, Matthew worked on farms in New Zealand and Australia for one year.
"The secret is to keep the cow and calf on good quality grass. The cows are milky and can rear their calf well," added Matthew, who stressed that quality silage should form the basis of the herd's winter diet. "Many suckler farmers don't care about making top-class silage. Ideally, we like to cut the grass early, usually in mid-May, and wilt it for 24 hours before ensiling. We don't use an additive as it is hard to justify with sucked cows." The calves are weaned off the cows at housing, usually in the region of seven to nine months of age. All calves are dosed every two months after turnout with Cydectin, and this year, they were vaccinated against pneumonia. "Last year we had major problems with pneumonia in the herd," explained Thomas. All cattle are treated for fluke and worms on an annual basis. The bullock and heifer calves are kept in separate batches. They are fed around 1kg to 1.5kg per head per day of a 16 per cent crude protein ration. The basic ingredients for the ration, which costs around £130 per tonne, are maize, penford gluten, soya bean meal and citrus pulp with added vitamins, minerals and molasses. The calves are sold from January onwards at around 12 to 13 months of age. Most of the calves are sold off the farm in private deals to finishers who source cattle year-after-year.
"Last year we sold 63 single-punched bullocks, weighing an average of 441kgs, for £517 per head," said Matthew, who finds that the Limousin is early maturing. "The Limousin calves perform well right from birth. They are growthy and have no trouble achieving DLWGs over 1kg. from birth." When selecting heifers as replacements for the suckler herd, the father and son duo pay particular attention to the conformation and temperament of the heifers. They also look at their breeding, especially on the dam side, for milkiness, and prolificacy. Potential replacements are usually selected within one month of birth. The remainder of the heifers are reared to fulfil a contract with a local butcher who has been sourcing stock from this farm for three years.
Maurice Anderson, and son Adrian, run a butchers shop and delicatessen in Tandragee, County Armagh. They are very pleased with the overall quality of the Limousin carcase. "The majority of housewives like to buy lean beef, and the Limousin delivers a lean carcase with a nice textured meat which eats well," explained Maurice. "We usually kill two heifers every week to supply the Anderson's
shop," said Matthew. The heifers are delivered to a local abattoir
where they are slaughtered for the shop. "We usually put them
away at around 490kg liveweight, and we are more than pleased with
the returns achieved from this enterprise." Four Limousin cross bullocks which were sold last year to a finisher,
have since been slaughtered to achieve average deadweights of 420 kilos.
Three of them graded U 3, with the other grading U 4. Having bought their first Limousin bull seven years ago, Thomas and Matthew are satisfied customers, and continue to purchase their bulls privately from established breeders, Godfrey Coulter, Killycastle herd, Cookstown, and Tom Clyde, Millwater herd, Antrim. Matthew would like to establish a small pedigree Limousin herd, but having recently started clipping dairy cattle, he hasn't got the time to devote to pedigree cattle breeding. Thomas and Matthew made their debut in the fatstock showring at Newtownhamilton Mart's Christmas show and sale. They scooped first and second prizes with Limousin cross bullocks. Their first prize winner also won reserve supreme champion. This 15-month-old entry weighed 600kg and realised £780. "We decided to push these two calves harder, as they were too good to sell as stores," said Matthew who was very happy with his success. |
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