Gene Ireland Beef Sire Directory

Introduction

We are delighted to present you with the latest catalogue of beef bulls that are now available through the Gene Ireland program. The breeding program is a joint initiative between Pedigree Breeders, Commercial farmers, Breed Societies, AI Companies, DAFM & ICBF. The aim of the program is to progeny test high index beef bulls which will produce profitable cows for the suckler beef industry. The minimum criteria for a bull to be included on the panel is 5 Stars across breed on Replacement Index.

We have included a section dedicated to high Terminal Index bulls which are selected to produce profitable animals for sale or slaughter. The minimum criteria for a bull to be included in the Terminal section is 5 Stars across breed on Terminal Index. To avail of straws from the Terminal section, a herdowner must order the same number of straws from the Replacement section.

The Benefits

If you contact ICBF (023-8820452) and order semen from any of the bulls in this catalogue you will receive the following benefits:



Access to the highest index new beef bulls in Irish AI at €5 per straw (technician charges may apply).

 Straws delivered to your own tank or the technician of your choosing.

 Progress towards meeting the BDGP targets.

 Potentially sell some of the progeny back to ICBF for performance testing at the Tully Beef Test Centre.

 Freedom to choose whatever combination of bulls & breeds that you require from the catalogue.

Gene Ireland Overview

The diagram below gives an overview of both the design and operation of the Gene Ireland Beef program.

Bull Breeder Herds

Pedigree

2022 Autumn Replacement Panel

Code Breed Name

Bred By

Repl

Idx € Beef Cow Calv Diff % Page

CH8112 CH Messmer Alain Cocandeau, France €182 2.4% 3

SI8520 SI Portroyal Mr Bull PP John A. Hession, Co Mayo €163 1.0% 4

LM8286 LM Rutland Reuben Noel Ruttledge, Co Mayo €153 2.4% 5

SI8121 SI Epik Agrochyt P Vl a Chytka, Czech Republic €151 5.8% 6

LM8109 LM Percy Lepa de Montmorillon, France €150 2.8% 7

LM7599 LM Moebius Gaec Domaine Laurens, France €130 1.4% 8

LM8259 LM Keltic Rembrandt Mac Murphy, Co Meath €129 2.5% 9

2022 Autumn Terminal Panel

Code Breed Name

Bred By

Term Idx € Beef Cow Calv Diff % Page

CH8541 CH Cattanview Supreme Tim Higgins, Co Leitrim. €185 4.3% 14

CH8262 CH Grangwood Royal Oak Jeremiah O’Keeffe, Co Limerick €165 7.3% 15

LM7713 LM Birchpark Rufus Owen Flannery, Co Clare. €159 2.5% 16

CH8535 CH Tullyvillage Shane William Flynn, Co Galway €158 7.6% 17

CH8334 CH Corbaun Rory Liam Keogh, Co Longford €149 7.5% 18

CH8571 CH Recif Thierry Frecon, France €135 4.4% 19

This report has been prepared by ICBF in good faith on the basis of information provided to it. No representation or warranty expressed or implied is made or given by ICBF as to the accuracy, reliability, completeness of this Report. ICBF shall not be liable for any losses (whether direct or indirect), damages, costs or expenses whatsoever, incurred or arising from any use of or reliance on this Report or the information contained in it by any person.

Spring 2022 AI Birth Stats

The class of Spring 2022, who sired them?

The first half of 2022 saw 641,594 suckler beef calves (beef sire x beef dam) born on Irish farms, of which 80,382 have been registered to an AI sire. This represents approximately 12% of all suckler beef calves born in the period. Below is a list of the top 10 AI sires of Spring 2022 suckler progeny based on sires recorded.

The Top 10 AI Sires with the most progeny recorded to them between 1/1/22 to 30/6/22.

Rank Al Code

1 CH4321 Lapon

Name

Breed

Number of Progeny Repl Index Term Index GI Sire

CH 6884 €102 €157 Yes

2 LM4217 Moondharrig Knell

LM 5966 €164 €122 Yes

3 LM2014 Ewdenvale Ivor LM 5822 €180 €156 Yes

4 CH4159 Knockmoyle Loki ET CH 3517 €102 €166 No

5 AA4089 Intelagri Matteo ET AA 2307 €156 €86 Yes

6 LM4184 Loyal LM 1777 €160 €131 No

7 AA4640 HW Farghal T516 AA 1623 €112 €94 Yes

8 SI2152 Curaheen Earp SI 1416 €198 €90 Yes

9 CH4251 Goldstar Ludwig CH 1360 €81 €133 Yes

10 CH4160 Pottlereagh Mark CH 1322 €121 €137 No Evaluation based on the Oct 2022 evaluation.

These 10 sires account for 40% of all the AI suckler progeny born in the first half of 2022. The list is dominated by well proven Charolais and Limousin sires along with two Angus and one Simmental. The 10 sires listed above have an average Replacement Index of €138 which is 5 Stars across breeds with relatively high reliability across all the sires and very high in some cases. Encouragingly, 7 of the 10 sires, and all the top 3, listed above have graduated from Gene Ireland over the years which highlights the value of the program for progeny testing young high impact sires. This helps to drive the rate of genetic gain by building high reliability indexes at a young age on the back of robust data recording. Every Spring and Autumn a new panel of young high genetic merit sires are made available to suckler farmers for just €5 per straw.

Moondharrig Knell

Lapon

The top 3 Angus AI Sires based on Sires recorded 1/1/22 to 30/6/22

Rank AI Code Name Breed

1 AA4089 INTELAGRI MATTEO E.T. (ET)

AA4640 HW FARGHAL T516

AA2163 LISS BRENDAN P465

Number of Progeny Repl Index

GI Sire

AA 2307 €156 YES

1623 €112

571 €118

The top 3 Aubrac AI Sires based on Sires recorded 1/1/22 to 30/6/22

Rank AI Code Name Breed

1 AU4683 TURLOUGHMORE MAGNIFICENT

AU6286 JOHNSTOWN NELSON 1039

AU6685 MOUNTCAIN ONDEE

Number of Progeny Repl Index € GI Sire

AU 588 €223 YES

110 €193 NO

79 €138 YES

The top 3 Belgian Blue AI Sires based on Sires recorded 1/1/22 to 30/6/22

Rank AI Code Name Breed

1 BB4438 AN DE BEAUFFAUX

BB6634 CHOCOLAT D OCHAMPS

3 BB5223 NOX DE L'ORGELOT

Number of Progeny Repl Index € GI Sire

1264 €64 NO

497 €78 NO

393 €65 NO

The top 3 Blonde AI Sires based on Sires recorded 1/1/22 to 30/6/22

Rank AI Code Name Breed

1 BA2308 STONELEA INZAGI

BA4661 GLACON

BA4550 HASHTAG

Number of Progeny Repl Index € GI Sire

153 €53 NO

101 €63 NO

37 €105 YES

The top 3 Hereford AI Sires based on Sires recorded 1/1/22 to 30/6/22

Rank AI Code Name Breed

1 HE5346 FISHER 1 PROFILE P456

HE4297 FABB 1 NORTHERN STAR

HE4105 CONMELVIN OLLIE

Number of Progeny Repl Index € GI Sire

389 €113 YES

370 €117 YES

168 €115 NO

The top 3 Parthenaise AI Sires based on Sires recorded 1/1/22 to 30/6/22

Rank AI Code Name Breed

KILGULBIN

KILLERWICK LANCELOT

of Progeny Repl Index

€143

€70

€119

The top 3 Piedmontese AI Sires based on Sires recorded 1/1/22 to 30/6/22

Rank AI Code Name Breed

PI4566 SANDYMOUNT NORDIC

PI4672 ZANZIBAR

PI4664 VOLPINO

of Progeny Repl Index

Sire

GI Sire

€124 YES

€142 NO

€149

The top 3 Salers AI Sires based on Sires recorded 1/1/22 to 30/6/22

Rank AI Code Name Breed

1 SA4604 KNOTTOWN ROY

of Progeny Repl Index

GI Sire

1184 €243 YES

SA4461 SPIDDAL PAT SA 160 €163 YES

SA2189 ULSAN

125 €202 NO

The top 3 Shorthorn AI Sires based on Sires recorded 1/1/22 to 30/6/22

Rank AI Code Name Breed Number of Progeny Repl Index € GI Sire

SH4748 BUNCRAGGY FIREFOX (RO) (P)

SH4209 STONEYROYD HALCYON MATRIX (P)

CLONINA EXPLORER

(RO)

1091 €102 YES

245 €152

€111

The top 3 Simmental AI Sires based on Sires recorded 1/1/22 to 30/6/22

Rank AI Code Name Breed

SI2152 CURAHEEN EARP

SI2469 LISNACRANN FIFTY CENT

SI4250 LIS NA RI GUCCI

of Progeny Repl Index

GI Sire

1416 €198 YES

€189

€171

Jarret

Gene

David Tierney, along with his sons Paul and Steven operate a beef enterprise in Fethard, Co Tipperary. In excess of 100 cows are calved in a split calving pattern with 75 cows in the spring and 25 in the autumn. Sixty cows are purebred Limousin or Angus and are run under the Bannixtown prefix. The average Replacement Index of the cows in the herd is an impressive €112 - this compares to the national average of approximately €89. This high level of genetic merit is backed up with an impressive set of KPIs for such a large herd. The most recent figures for the herd indicate an average calving interval of 377 days with calves per cow per year running at .97. The aim of the herd is to produce maternal, fertile cattle whilst not compromising on visual appeal. A huge emphasis is put on calving ease due to a combination of a compact calving period and the fact that dairy farmers have become the primary market for bull sales in the area. All the commercial progeny are either finished on farm under 24 months or sold as forward stores depending on the markets trends. The herd has been using DIY AI for the last 3 years and the most recent calf crop saw 41% of the calves being sired by AI. They have also been using Gene Ireland straws for the past 6 years. The use of these Gene Ireland bulls has aided in them widening the genetic diversity which will be of huge benefit to the herd into the future. Some of the most successful Gene Ireland sires used were Nebbiolo, Jym, Creggpark Marcus, Erebos, Moondharrig Knell and Eylau. Alongside Gene Ireland, the herd are also active participants in HerdPlus, BDGP, BEEP-S and DNA Calf Reg.

Steven Tierney

One of the standout cows in the herd is IE341093530857. Sired by a Limousin stockbull, she was born in February 2015. This cow first calved at 23 months and has produced a calf every year for 6 years with a lifetime average calving interval of just 375 days. She is pictured below with her latest calf - a March 2022 born heifer which is growing at a very impressive 1.5 kgs per day. The cow currently has a Replacement Index of €111 and weighed 764 kgs in August 2022. She is 4 stars across breed for Milk and is a great example of what can be achieved in the suckler beef industry through a combination of genetics and top-class management.