‘Phenomenal’ surge in demand for Angus cattle at home and abroad
Demand from factories for Angus cattle has never been higher and overseas buyers are also queueing up to buy the purebred pedigree Angus breeding stock, reports
The current surge in demand for Angus cattle at home and abroad is “phenomenal” says leading Angus breeder, Padraig O’Connor.
“I have never seen anything like it and the challenge is to supply the demand” says the Co Roscommon breeder who is serving his first year as President of the Irish Angus Cattle Society.
“I was in a meat factory the other day and they told me that they now need 500 Angus cattle per week to supply the home demand and this factory is not one of the three major processors in the country.
“In Spain they are now looking to buy purebred pedigree Angus breeding stock because breeders there now want to start breeding Angus cattle in their herds,” says Padraig.
There is also interest in pedigree registered Angus heifers from breeders in Serbia and Italy.
Padraig is well placed to cope with the domestic and overseas demand as the tradition of Angus breeding on his farm at Cloonroughan, Elphin goes back for more than a century. Many of the bloodlines that form the backbone of his Roscommon Angus herd have been nurtured over several decades.
The origin of the herd goes back to Padraig’s grandfather on his mother’s side of the family, Felix O’Connor, who kept a mixed Angus and Shorthorn herd on the farm.
And Padraig’s son, Christopher, who works full-time off the farm, is also involved in the herd in his spare time, ensuring continuity for another generation of Angus breeding on the holding.
Padraig’s herd of 45 pedigree Angus cows are now run alongside a commercial herd.
“Our main thing is to breed for the dairy industry’s demand for easy calving and easy fleshing bulls that are suitable for using on both heifers and cows.
“That’s what we are aiming for while keeping the traditional bloodlines,” says Padraig.
The base bloodlines in the herd can be traced to bulls that were in Sligo AI station in the 1960s and 1970s, mainly Highland Colossal, Cregga Vincent, and Hillsgrove bloodlines while the Michael Reynolds-bred,
Jasper, also made a big contribution to the herd’s success.
“The dairy herd is the market, but the calving figures have to be kept low or they won’t buy them. We are keeping to the traditional type Angus which was an easy calver anyway and you rarely have anyone complaining about them.
“If a breeder was unfortunate enough to get a wrong stock bull to run with the herd it could shake up the figures a bit, but normally we would try to use the new stock bull on a fairly limited basis the first year and see how it works out,” says Padraig.
‘Docility’
On bulls he looks for “a good locomotion in the walk, a good head and easy fleshing ability with a good top line and a docile animal – docility is key.
“We would try to keep a stock bull that is satisfactory and producing good progeny for four or five seasons, that is if they stay with you, because they can get injured.
“This summer was very hard on bulls because the ground was very hard and a lot of them throughout the country got injured on dairy farms this year,” he says.
Meanwhile, the breed bonus on the Angus cross at slaughter, which is regarded as “a huge advantage” , has been boosted by the promotion of Angus beef by the Angus Producer Association.
“Angus beef has gone so popular that it is now selling itself. It really has taken off,” says Padraig.
Demand is exceeding supply to the factories and some of the factories are now putting Angus stock into their own feedlots.
“There is big demand for Angus because the consumers are finding that it is a very tasty product.
“The supermarkets are getting more keen on it now because it is moving off the shelves and when the housewife goes in to the supermarket she will buy more of her groceries there also and that is a real benefit for them,” adds Padraig.
This summer was hard on the bulls because the ground was very hard and a lot of them got injured on dairy farms throughout the country