Irish Cattle
Breeding Federation

Photos and information on the Tully champions selected within breed for the up-coming sale on 25th of April 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 4th of April. 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 2.0 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 1% 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 (pictured) will be among the 96 offered up for sale at Tully on Monday, 25th of April, which consists of 24 Limousins, 28 Charolais, 17 Angus, 1 Aubrac, 4 Belgium Blues, 3 Herefords, 2 Blonde d’Aquitaine, 7 Salers and 10 Simmentals. 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. On the day of sale bulls will be between 13 and 18 months of age.

17 Limousin bulls sold (60% Clearance) at an average of €2,681.

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	Home Farm Ebony Ahead K894	2.4	4.9	85	8.8	107	*****	*****
BB	Drumole Elite Et	2.0	4.8	80	1.9	96	****	****
CH	Dereskit Echo Et	2.6	4.8	89	4.0	179	*****	****
LM	Milbrook Filio Et	2.1	4.5	93	2.6	144	*****	****
SA	Sligo Kethro	2.2	6.3	82	4.6	133	*****	****
SI	Leeherd Barclay	2.8	4.8	89	4.3	172	*****	*****
HE2	Gouldingpoll 1 Crusader Et	2.3	5.4	80	7.0	82	*****	*****
BA2	Mountbrown Armani D40230	2.5	4.9	96	1.9	64	*****	*
HE2	Gouldingpoll 1 Crusader Et	2.3	5.4	80	7.0	82	*****	*****
BA2	Mountbrown Armani D40230	2.5	4.9	96	1.9	64	*****	*
AU2	Parknageragh Frank	2.3	4.6	91	2.0	92	****	*

₁ Suckler 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.

Milbrook Filio Et, sired by Sauvignon and owned by William Smith, Oldcastle, Co. Meath	Mountbrown D40230, sired by Ballinascraw Armani and owned by Philip Lyons, Westport, Co. Mayo	Dereskit Echo Et, sired by Major and owned by Basil Bothwell, Killeshandra, Co. Cavan.
Leeherd Barclay, sired by Kilbride Farm Newry and owned by John Finnegan, Coachford, Co. Cork.	Parknageragh Frank, sired by Raynaldy Ulysse and owned by Michael Mcauliffe, Castleisland, Co. Kerry	Sligo Kethro, sired by Voltaire and owned by Bernard Hunt, Lisbaleely Co. Sligo.
Drumole Elite Et, sired by Ballygrange Alex and owned by Dan Brady, Cootehill, Co Cavan.	Goulding 1 Crusader Et, sired by Romany 1 Captain R22 C1 and owned by Matthew Goulding, Ballyduff, Co. Kerry	Home Farm Ebony Ahead K894, sired by Rawburn Rommel E423 and owned by Fintan Keown, Belleek, Co. Fermanagh.