Irish Cattle
Breeding Federation

Photos and information on the Tully champions selected within breed for the up-coming sale on 15th October 2011

This week saw the champion beef bulls selected from each of the main breeds that participated in the latest Tully intake. All bulls at Tully completed their 90 day performance tests on the 19th of September. Now that the test has being completed, bulls will have their concentrate offering gradually decreased leading up to the sale, to ensure they are acclimatised to their new on-farm environment. The champion bulls are a reflection of the exceptional quality of bulls available for purchase at the up-coming sale. They achieved excellent performance figures, for instance average daily gain ranged from 1.8 to 2.6 kg per day, across breeds. Also, all champion bulls have excellent star ratings for Suckler Beef value, with 5 bulls in the top 10% of their respective breed.  All measurements at Tully are incorporated in the €uro-Star indexes to give more accurate genetic evaluations whilst also increasing the reliability on key production traits. Also, bulls at Tully boost a high health status as they are tested free of IBR, BVD, Johne’s, EBL, TB and Brucellosis.

The Champion bulls (Table 1) were identified within each breed based on 3 main criteria. These criteria were visual assessment (33%), €uro-Star indexes (33%) and Tully performance data (33%).
These bulls will be among the 49 offered up for sale at Tully on Saturday, 15th of October, which consists of 3 Blonde d’Aquitaine, 1 Saler, 4 Angus, 18 Limousin, 15 Charolais, 6 Simmental & 2 Belgian Blue.

The sale is located minutes from Kildare town, exit 13 of the M7 motorway. For more information or a copy of the catalogue, contact Stephen or Niall on 045 521573. The catalogue is also available at http://www.icbf.com/services/tully/index.php. On the day of sale bulls will be between 13 and 18 months of age.
Table 1. Performance and Indexes of Champion bulls at Tully

Breed	Name	Average Daily Gain (kg/day)	Feed Conversion Efficiency (DMI/ADG)	Scan Muscle Dept (mm)	Scan Fat Dept (mm)	SBV1 (€)	SBV1 Stars within breed (Stars)	Milk within breed (Stars)
AA	Templequain Lord Jake K798	2.5	5.6	80	7.1	64	*****	*****
CH	Redgate Folengo	2.5	5.5	90	3.0	176	*****	*****
LM	Glebe Park Franco	2.5	5.3	98	3.9	102	*****	*
SI	Curaheen Bronson	2.5	5.7	81	4.4	160	*****	*****
SA2	Corlurgan Kemp	2.3	5.1	79	4.1	34	*	*
BA2	Mountbrown Flint	2.4	4.9	94	2.6	95	*****	**
BB2	Hawksford Eoin	2.1	4.9	87	2.1	106	****	***

₁Suckler Beef Value
₂ Selected from low numbers within breed

 

Performance and Health testing
In terms of the Tully performance test, all animals are tested for a 90 day period, with information then obtained on key traits such as feed conversion efficiency and growth efficiency. This allow us identify the truly superior bulls for these traits. For example, when the feed intake and measurement data were obtained on all bulls from the current intake, the nine bulls identified in Table 1 excelled on key traits such as Average Daily Gain, Feed Conversion Efficiency and Scanned muscle and fat depth (indicators of meat and fat yield).
What makes Tully bulls superior is not only that they are pre-selected, have elite genetics and high indexes, but the fact that these bulls have a very high health status. Only bulls from herds with a high health status are eligible to enter Tully.
Purchasing a bull at Tully greatly eliminates the risk of introducing new diseases into your herd. Tully bulls undergo rigorous testing before and during their performance test period to ensure that they are clear of infectious diseases such as IBR, BVD, Johne’s and EBL.

 

 

Angus Bull: Templequain Lord Jake K798, sired by Luddenmore Fionn G441 and owned by Martin Costigan, Portlaoise, Co. Laois.	Belgian Blue Bull: Hawksford Eoin, sired by Ober Van Het Hubkeshof and owned by Henry O’ Connor, Ballaghaderreen, Co Roscommon.	Blonde d’Aquitaine Bull: Mountbrown Flint, sired by Ballinascraw Armani and owned by Philip Lyons, Westport, Co. Mayo
Charolais Bull: Redgate Folengo, sired by Thrunton Voldemort and owned by Eugene Egan, Ballyfin, Co Laois.	Limousin Bull: Glebe Farm Franco, sired by Ampertaine Brigadeer and owned by John Fahy, Tuam, Co Galway.	Saler Bull: Corlurgan Kemp, sired by Scorpion and owned by Fernand Crowe, Ballinagh, Co. Cavan.
Simmental Bull: Curaheen Bronson, sired by Milton Lord-Tiffany ET and owned by David Wall, Newcastle, Co. Dublin.