‘Charolais have a profitable future’
Alan Woods
FARMING under difficult ground conditions has not inhibited Alan Woods from achieving performances in his Charolais Pedigree Herd that are on par with some of the best in the country.
The foundation for the Crossmolina Charolais herd was soundly laid with the careful selection of some of the best heifers in the western region almost a quarter of a century ago — and he never looked back.
“I bought a Charolais weanling heifer — one of the best in the herd at that time — in the early 1990s and I built up the herd on her bloodlines,” explained Alan, who still has the original bloodlines within the herd, producing some of the top specimens in the country.
“I have only a small number of pedigree cows in the herd,” he added, which makes his achievements all the more significant having produced show champions, top AI bulls and price leaders that would do justice to many a large herd of Charolais.
The 10-pedigree Charolais cows run alongside a commercial suckler herd of 55 cows on the farm at Coolamine House, Crossmolina, close to the shore of Lough Conn in Mayo, where Alan took over from his father.
He admits: “farming conditions here are difficult, there is no doubt about that” and with heav y soil type trying to cope with annual rainfall in the area among the highest in the country, “farming land in this area is a challenge that has to be faced every day of the year”.
Given that heifers from the farm being slaughtered at 24 months kill out at an average of 369kg, and average U-3+ on the grading scale, farmers on better land probably wonder how he does it. Alan has been completing profit monitors for the past 10 years and showing some very healthy returns with high outputs.
Last year, performance of the herd’s weanling bulls averaged a daily live weight gain of 1.41kg/day from birth, with the heifer weanlings averaging 1.17kg/day straight out of their mothers.
The herd maintains a very respectable calving interval of 395 days, with the number of calves being produced per cow in the year sitting at 0.83 and mortality rates are also kept to a minimum at just 3.9pc.
He carefully selects his heifers for breeding based on “good bone” and admits that he likes to see “power in the cows”, which his Charolais usually delivers, but feels that the Charolais of the future should be aiming for lighter bone in the breeding traits to insure against difficult calvings.
Heifers are usually mated to Limousin for their first calf, with the target of calving down at 30 months.
The Charolais Show and Sale of February 2013 was an exceptional day for the herd, with Crossmolina Harry being judged Junior Champion of the Show, and the 12-month-old bull was purchased by Eamon O’Kane, Drumquin, Co Tyrone for €7,100.
On the same day, Crossmolina Gerard was judged Senior Male Champion and purchased for €6,200 by J&H Gervis, Ballygawley, Co Tyrone, while another entry placed first in