Livestock

Introduction
I live on a farm which consists of approximately of 40 acres of grassland and 3 acres of forestry. Each year at around April time we buy in 24 heifers at a weight of approximately 350kg. This means that they have already had their first winter indoors and first summer outdoors and all that is left for us to do is to finish them and hopefully achieve weights of 550kg-600kg. We do this by feeding grass in the summer and silage and concentrates during the winter.
When these animals reach their slaughter weights we send them to Liffey Meats, Ballyjamesduff, Co. Cavan. Last year we sent 24 heifers to the factory weighing an average of 580kg. Last year was an exceptional for the beef trade and due to this we received high prices of €4.80/kg, this averaged out at €1400/animal. This was approximately double of what we would receive any other year and this year’s prices won’t be as good.





Liffey Meats Ballyjamesduff

Selecting Breeds
When buying animals at the mart we like to try and get good breeds into our herd such as Belgian blue, Charolais, Limousin and Aberdeen Angus. We look out for these breeds because of their ability to put on live weight and achieve high factory prices. Each of these breeds has their own characteristics which I have outlined below:
Belgian Blue:        
The Belgian Blue originated from Belgium and they can be easily identified because of their blue, black and white coloured coats. The Belgian Blue also has a ‘double muscle’ gene which means they produce high quality lean meat with little or no fat. There is one fault with this breed and that is their calving can be very difficult.
Aberdeen Angus:
This breed is native of the Aberdeen region of Scotland. The Aberdeen Angus has a dominant polled gene which means they have no horns. They give high quality marbled meat and are adaptable to most conditions. They are very easy calved and are extensively used for cross- breeding.
Charolais:
Charolais are native of...