How Aubrac Cows Are Delivering E And U Grade Cattle For This Farmer
Michael McCall hasn't looked back since importing his first Aubrac from France 20 years ago
His experience over the years has left Michael McCall, in no doubt that the Aubrac are "the one breed that can make money for the farmer".
· Go To
o Comments
Michael, who is better known among his peers as 'Kim', decided to import the first of the breed on to his farm from France two decades ago, and it continues to be one decision that he has never had reason to regret.
His ambition was to breed beef animals for the Calverstown herd at Kilcullen, Co Kildare that would leave a decent margin of profit from a combination of low costs and good performances.
"We brought them in because we thought that they were a good all round breed. The key point is the economy of the breed."
Michael could hardly have expected their offspring delivering such a very high percentage of E and U grade beef animals as they have been doing.
Neither did he envisage that in 2016 one of his pedigree Aubrac bulls, Calverstown Koala, would become the leading all breed bull on the ICBF Gene Ireland selection with a rating of €163 on the replacement index.
Koala is a five-star bull for both Maternal and Terminal indexes, and comes with an estimated calving difficulty of 3.3pc and described as having a very placid temperament.
"I don't think he is the best bull that we have bred in the herd, but he is the one that was selected on the day, and his rating is good", said Kim.
Koala is the sixth calf of his dam 'Calverstown Bodalla', who is a consistent breeder with a calving internal of 359 days and no assisted calving.
She is described as being "a deep and square cow, with plenty of milk, and a growth rate of 1.53kg/ day from birth" whose bloodline originated from the Ramon Herd, based in France, that is well-known for its maternal traits.
Koala's sire 'Four Candles' was purchased in France out of the highly rated Boubal herd and is from the herd's best performing bloodline.
Four Candles has sired over 200 calves, with very little calving difficulty. He has produced daughters of excellent maternal quality, while on the other hand his progeny that have been slaughtered have performed extremely well with a total 90pc of bullocks U grade.
The herd
The herd's consistency is exceptional, with the 75 cows in the herd having a calving interval of 363 days - a calf every year - against the national average at 401 days - over the past three years.
Pedigree stock are continually sought from herds in France with the number of herds from which stock are purchased narrowed down over the years to the current scale of three or four of the tops in the country.
Efficiency
Apart from the performance of the animals, Kim is very impressed by the feed efficiency of the breed.
"Last year we kept 75 cows on 2.5 bales of silage or haylage per day and one bale of straw, using less than 400 bales over a 120-130 day winter season" he said.
He believes that it would be very difficult to get the same combination of performance and feed efficiency that the Aubrac have delivered over the years.
"The Aubrac have been providing us with consistent results for over 19 years" says Kim and by any standard that is a reasonable period of test.
He sums up the breed's qualities as "consistency in docility, milk, ease of calving, lively calves, good growth rate and feed conversion - cows that can milk well off grass, hay or silage, and do not need meal".
"Fertility, longevity, and calving interval are good. They are low cost cattle that are pleasant and easy to work with" which leaves no doubt about conviction in favour of the breed.
"Aubrac suit our system of farming which is not intensive but as we are full time farmers the profit has to be enough to sustain the family and keep on investing in the farm. With Aubrac cattle, we can do that" he explains.
Stock from the Calverstown Herd are rarely seen on the show circuit."We are not interested in shows but look for an efficient suckler cow that leaves us with a bit of profit" says Kim.
While it may appear unusual for a high profile pedigree herd not to utilise the show as a shop window for the progeny, demand from other breeders for all available progeny from the herd for breeding or finishing as beef animals speaks volumes.
And it is not the only unusual feature of the herd or the farm where farming continues in a modern style of traditional farming methods - with very limited artificial fertiliser.
In addition to the Aubrac Herd the 85 ha farm, which is run by Kim and his wife, Mireille who is also very involved in the management, carries 80 breeding ewes and there are 10 ha of forestry.
About 350 tonnes of farmyard manure and 105.000 litres of slurry are spread on average each year with Bacteriolit added to the straw in the shed and to the slurry. Bacteriosol is also used. Bacteriolit and Bacteriosol are a natural product from Sobac which speeds up composting.
The manure is usually spread in August and September and slurry between January and March. The farm is mainly old pasture with a very high concentration of clover mostly white and red.
"We have found a noticeable improvement in the pastures since using it. The grass is sweeter and the animals eat more of the field. It also helps to rectify compaction problems and reduce weeds" he explains.
The farm was in REPS for a number of years and was demonstration farm for REPS 1. In AEOS hedges have been planted, rich meadows species managed and an orchard replanted.
"The farm is not organic but we are being careful to protect the environment and wildlife in simple measures that do not interfere with the profitability on the farm," says Kim.
The success of the farm has been recognised in the national awards received. In 1990 it won the National Farming and Conservation Award, followed in 1998 by the Profitable Farming and Conservation Award, in 2000 with first prize for REPS for the Leinster region and in 2009 by an RDS-sponsored Forestry Award.
The farm was originally purchased by the McCall family in 1958. Kim's father bred racehorses and fattened bullocks on the farm. In 1986 when Kim took over he opted for suckler cows and sheep to replace the horses choosing the Aubrac breed which he has never regretted.
(Source – Irish Independent - Indo Farming – Martin Ryan – 04/12/2016)
Photo Caption:
Calverstown Koala is the leading all breed bull on the latest ICBF Gene Ireland selection with a rating of €163 on the replacement index
2