Latest news with #Montbeliarde
Agriland
13-05-2025
- General
- Agriland
Split calving Montbeliarde herd milking strong with quality calves
Seamus Quinn is milking 90 pedigree registered Montbeliarde cows in Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim, where his herd of cows are producing the goods in the parlour and producing calves worthy of the top price in his local mart in Carrigallen. The fourth generation farmer took over the farm from his mother and has been enjoying the responsibility alongside his wife and three children. Seamus was originally milking Friesian cows until he lost his herd to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as mad cow disease, in the early 2000s. To get back into milking, Seamus 'looked for change' and 'wanted to go back for something different'. At the time, there were a few Montbeliarde herds establishing around him, which he visited and was impressed by. There was also a Teagasc pedigree herd of Montbeliardes in Ballinamore before closing around 2004, but the herd of cows had caught Seamus' eye. Seamus contacted David Clarke of and imported 36 in-calf Montbeliarde heifers sourced by Coopex Montbeliarde in France in 2002, as he was convinced that he was getting a cow that could milk and produce a saleable calf. Montbeliarde herd Ever since, the Quinns have been gradually growing the herd up to what it is today and, besides buying five Montbeliarde heifers at a mart in 2003, they have remained a closed herd since, building the herd through their own genetics and breeding. Seamus operates a 50:50 spring and autumn calving split, with calving starting in October and finishing up the following spring in early April. Operating across a 120ac block of land, the cows do not get to grass most years until the latter stages of the spring due to the heavy land type in the Quinns' part of the country As Seamus said: 'Even in that weather, if you get an inch of rain, we'll be wet again'. Seamus Quinn with his son John on their farm in Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim In terms of cow performance, Seamus is very happy how the Montbeliarde holds herself and her ability to produce a high yield with solids. He said that this is accompanied with an 'unreal calf value' – he has often got the highest price for calves in Carrigallen mart and made €900 for a Montbeliarde x Belgian Blue calf last year and has been getting up to €600 for a lot of his calves this year. These bull calves are sold at about 3-5-weeks-of-age, once they are strong enough and fit for selling. Breeding Even though, with calf prices like that, Seamus still uses a bit of sexed semen in his herd, as he said, in the last few years, 'we haven't got the run of heifers that you want'. In the last couple of years, Seamus has been keeping on up to 25 heifer calves for replacements, but might only end up with about a 20% replacement rate when all is said and done, as the heifers have to be suitable, healthy, and worthwhile to keep on milking. The use of sexed semen this year will hopefully give Seamus 'more freedom to cull harder', as he is aiming for about 35-40 replacement heifer calves to keep on. This year, Seamus will use Montbeliarde semen on 50% of the herd, of which 40% will consist of sexed semen from Bó Sires and Coopex. He has upped the amount of Montbeliarde inseminations this year and is using sexed semen as he wants more heifers, as he said 'I think there is going to be a shortage of dairy stock in the next two to three years.' Export sales manager and breeding adviser for Coopex Montbéliarde, Ferréol Roche pays a visit to Seamus' farm each year where the cows will be analysed and matched to suitable bulls to drive production, longevity and health. The purebred registered Montbeliarde cows grazing in Leitrim Seamus does not use any stock bulls on his farm. as he uses 100% artificial insemination (AI) and does all the AI himself. He has been able to get the timing 100% with sexed semen and never misses heats through the use of Censortech collars. Speaking about the collars, Seamus said that they are a necessity when using 100% AI as once you get the technology, 'you don't realise how many cows you have been missing' before. The cows that Seamus wants in his herd are cows with good feet, temperament, with a nice size of about 650kg, with good udders and teat placement. In Seamus' experience, the Montbeliardes generally tick all the boxes above, but he will strategically pick the best performing cows in his herd that also match that criteria to get a Montbeliarde straw. Sexed semen will only be given to cows that have calved about 60-70 days prior and will be inseminated on their third time in heat since calving. Cows that come bulling before the 60 day mark or only showing their second heat will receive a conventional straw. Some of the Montbeliarde bulls used on the farm this year from Bó Sires are as follows: Skiper (MO1623) , with 834kg of milk and 0.32% protein and 0.31% fat, excellent udder type and body capacity; , with 834kg of milk and 0.32% protein and 0.31% fat, excellent udder type and body capacity; Sanmarco (MO9887) , a chest width improver with 1,387kg of milk and 0.14% protein and 0.3% fat; , a chest width improver with 1,387kg of milk and 0.14% protein and 0.3% fat; Ringostar (MO9884) , with 1,239kg of milk and 0.29% protein and 0.26% fat with a big body capacity; , with 1,239kg of milk and 0.29% protein and 0.26% fat with a big body capacity; Telido (MO1626) , a fertility improver with 973kg of milk with 0.16% protein and 0.28% fat; , a fertility improver with 973kg of milk with 0.16% protein and 0.28% fat; Peterpan (MO9445), a bull with 8kg of milk and 0.36% protein and 0.48% fat, an udder and body capacity improver. The first thing that Seamus will look at is the fat and protein of a particular bull, but he also wants a bull that will give him 'a nice even cow that's not too big or small with good depth and body capacity'. 'I don't want any hanging udders and you won't get that with Montbeliardes, a cow that is easily managed and, with the Montbeliardes, if they are not calving on their own, you know there is something wrong.' System Seamus said he fed about 750kg/meal/cow last year and also buys in maize to feed the cows milking through the winter along with top quality silage. He said that he tries not to overcomplicate the system and notes that the Montbeliarde cows will look after themselves as they are easily managed. 'You can't spend the whole time looking at them, you have to find a bit of time away from them,' the Co. Leitrim farmer said. 90-95 cows is what Seamus intends to stay at and he intends to continue breeding top quality Montbeliarde cows as they suit his land type and system very well due to their robustness, strength, power and resilience, longevity, and health. His herd of cows have great power with a will to milk Seamus looks for a good balanced cow Seamus expressed that his herd has fantastic fertility with never a problem of getting cows back in calf, adding that the health of the Montbeliarde is brilliant as they have a surreal ability to bounce back after illness or set-backs. Seamus intends to extend his cubicle shed over the next few years, along with extending his slurry storage in order to keep his slurry until March 1. He said in his part of the world, the winters can last a very long time and so having extra storage, space, and room for cows will make farming a lot more comfortable for himself and his family. Cow type from body capacity, feet and legs, udder and teat placement are all clearly outlined in the Bó Sires spring catalogue, providing the farmer with an opportunity to breed for production, health, longevity, functional traits, and cow type. For more information contact Neil Lahart, 087 095 3744 or Martin Flanagan, 087 1661575
Agriland
25-04-2025
- Business
- Agriland
Young new entrant goes against the grain milking Montbeliardes
Young new entrant, Eoghan Delaney is farming in partnership with his father PJ where they are now in their third year of milking Montbeliardes and Holstein Friesian cows. Eoghan's father PJ was milking Montbeliarde cows until 2006 before giving it up and with Eoghans interest in the industry and cows, the two decided to get back milking in partnership. When you hear of new entrants into the industry, you would presume that they sourced high economic breeding index (EBI) heifers and cows to get them started and to build their foundation herd but this was not the case with the Delaneys. A few of the Montbeliarde cows grazing The new cubicle/ milking parlour shed that the Delaneys invested in PJ had been milking Montbeliarde cows prior to giving up milking and knew what they were all about and Eoghan said that he wanted a 'good square cow that could produce a quality, saleable calf all while producing milk as good as anything else'. Eoghan admitted that in order to get into milking cows, he'd have to enjoy doing it and enjoy the cows that he worked with and that's why he leaned towards the Montbeliardes. Eoghan and his father PJ invested in a new 80 cubicle shed where a new 16-unit DeLeval parlour is under the same roof. A look inside the new cubicle shed The 16-unit DeLeval parlour The Delaneys started this investment on the back of the Covid 19 pandemic when costs sky-rocketed and admitted that it hasn't all been easy but they intend to keep adding to the place bit by bit and this mindset applies to the herd and their genetics as well. Montbeliarde The Montbeliarde heifers were hard sourced for the Delaneys and so they are now milking 75 cows in which half of them are Montbeliarde and the other half, Holstein Friesians. Eoghan admitted that the Holstein Friesians are also proving their worth in the herd with some of the best performers being Holstein Friesian. However, Eoghan aims to have a full herd of Montbeliardes in the coming years as he is constantly breeding his best cows to high yielding Montbeliarde bulls with percentages to back it off Bó Sires and Coopex. Eoghan and PJ are farming on 36ha and aim to maximise their milk output with an appropriate stocking rate and they feel that this feet is only achievable with the type of cow they are breeding. The Montbeliarde cows are tail painted as Eoghan has stared breeding and wants to breed off the Montbeliardes in the herd The Delaney's herd of cows out grazing The longevity and incredible health and robustness of the Montbeliarde means that the Delaney's only need 10-15 replacement heifers each year, which lowers the farms stocking rate. Any surplus heifers or bull calves born on the farm are sold by three weeks of age in which Eoghan said he gets on average €300/calf. Eoghan mentioned that he uses Limousin, Belgian Blue, Charolais and Blonde d'Aquitaine on cows that he is not breeding his replacements off, has no issues with calving and is offered a superior price for calves. However, he is not too fussed about using sexed semen as through using conventional, he is able to get his number of replacements with ease and even if a bull is born, he is able to sell with ease at a good price. Production Breeding on the farm starts in the first week of April, in which the Delaneys will AI for eight weeks and let stock bulls out to mop up for about three weeks. The aim of the breeding season is to breed a cow with a bit of size, a good square cow , with good health and hoof health that is well able to milk and produce solids as milk recording data plays a big part in selecting cows for Montbeliarde straws. A few of the Montbeliarde bulls used this year to breed the herd's replacements are as follows: Ringostar (MO9884) , with 1,239kg of milk and 0.29% protein and 0.26% fat with a big body capacity; , with 1,239kg of milk and 0.29% protein and 0.26% fat with a big body capacity; Telido (MO1626) , a fertility improver with 973kg of milk with 0.16% protein and 0.28% fat; , a fertility improver with 973kg of milk with 0.16% protein and 0.28% fat; Trevillers (MO2530), a bull with big chest width and 1,594kg of milk, 0.14% fat, 0.14% protein. The cows are out by day since February 10 and out day and night since March 1 and the herd seem to be thriving off the lush grass diet as they are currently producing over 28L/cow/day with protein of 3.61% and a fat of 4.03%. The herd is currently in band two which is up to 6,500kg of milk kg/cow sold and Eoghan's cows are currently producing 5,800kg/cow and he aims to maximise his milk kgs without going into band three. The young herd of cows produced over 400kg of milk solids/cow last year with 4.44% fat and 3.61% protein all while achieving a great average milk price for the year of 52.6c/L which is impressive with the majority of the herd only in their second lactation. A few of the 2025 heifer calves born on the farm The maiden replacement heifers on the farm The herd's calving interval for 2024 was 356 days which demonstrates the herd's fertility, robustness and ability to bounce-back after calving and go back in calf. What impresses Eoghan the most with the Montbeliardes is their ability to bounce back after hard calvings, illness or knocks as he said 'they're a strong cow, and a hard calving doesn't tend to affect them, they just get back up, they're so resilient'. Eoghan is eager to keep on developing his herd's genetics to really drive performance and production but fears what he will lose if the nitrates derogation doesn't get extended. Eoghan said that the Montbeliarde bulls he selects are not only offering production, health and fertility traits but are also bringing great type into his herd of cows and a cow that is suitable for grazing, long walks, with a great beef value. Cow type from body capacity, feet and legs, udder and teat placement are all clearly outlined in the Bó Sires spring catalogue, providing the farmer with an opportunity to breed for production, health, longevity, functional traits and cow type. For more information contact Neil Lahart, 087 095 3744 or Martin Flanagan, 087 1661575
