Loving living the Leitrim way

Pedigree breeding is a way of life in the west. There is a long tradition of breeding super cattle on small farms and Leitrim is no exception. Because land type is quite difficult on many farms in the west, people knew they couldn’t push stocking rate with big numbers. The other option was to go with high-value stock and keep small numbers. This fits well with most part-time operations, where small numbers of cattle can be kept but are looked after well. There were 1,307 pedigree registrations in Leitrim in 2018, 400 of which were pedigree Charolais. Most breeders have one or two pedigree cows alongside a suckler operation. There’s a certain sense of pride in turning out these pedigree animals and as we saw with the introduction of BDGP in 2015, breeding is taken very seriously in the west.

There is a long tradition of breeding super cattle on small farms and Leitrim is no exception

Nestled at the foot of Tievbaun, the second-highest summit in Co Leitrim, is the home of the Liscally Charolais herd owned by Jon Regan. Jon is well-known in Charolais circles, having been breeding Charolais for the last 30 years. Jon’s story is an interesting one. Reared on a small suckler farm of 20 cows in a family of seven brothers and five sisters, nothing was wasted and everybody had to do their bit.

“My father was an agricultural contractor, so there was always work and I think that instilled a work ethic in us all from a very young age. I always had a love for cows and this was encouraged by both my parents at the time. I went to Mountbellew agricultural college when I left school.” Finishing agricultural college in 1975, Jon had a big decision to make – take a job on a dairy farm in Laois or take a job on an oil rig in the North Sea in Scotland. It came down to money, £45/week on the dairy farm or £200/week on the oil rig. Scotland it was.

Oilskin pull-ups were like gold out there. We used to tie them to our belts at the breaks or people would swipe them

“It was tough going. It was 9 miles out at sea and you got the boat two hours north of Inverness. We travelled two hours from Inverness every day to get the boat. We worked a 12am-1pm shift pouring concrete and moving shutters. Weather conditions in the North Atlantic were atrocious and there was several nights where we couldn’t get off the rig. Oilskin pull-ups were like gold out there. We used to tie them to our belts at the breaks or people would swipe them.

“I lasted about a year and a half at it but made great money, because I had nowhere to spend it.”

I always had a love for cows and this was encouraged by both my parents at the time

Jon then made his way to Germany and worked for five years in the construction industry. “The end point was buying land at home. I didn’t care what I was at once I was making money. I came home in 1982 with £25,000 in my pocket and I had a cottage and 25ac bought within three days of coming home.” Jon started with dairy calf-to-beef. As he says himself, it was “easy to get into and not a big investment”. He bought 40 calves for five to six years, finishing most but keeping the top calves/heifers each year as sucklers to start a small herd. In 1989, 25ac were purchased, along with a further 28ac in 1990. “I was relief milking all the time and working in my father’s contracting business driving a digger.”

Charolais

By 1990, Jon was running 35 sucklers and went to Tully to purchase one of the first bulls to come out of a performance testing programme. Pat Gibbons, a well-known breeder from Donegal, bred the bull. The bull did well, so Jon kept in contact with Pat and in 1992 invested in two heifers. These heifers would form the basis of the Liscally herd and many of Jon’s female lines can be traced back to these two cows.

The Liscally herd came to national attention in 1996, after winning the national calf show championship at the national charolais show in Tullamore with Liscally Lancer, an Erudit son. Sligo AI later purchased the bull, but he failed the IBR test and Pat Gibbons purchased him as a stock bull, selling his first son for £10,000 in Tullamore. “Between 1996 and 2000 was probably some of the best years I had breeding. I averaged €6,000 for 14 bulls in 2000, which was great money at the time.”

Through the years, the Liscally herd has made headlines with top prices at society sales. In 2010, Dovea Genetics purchased Liscally Eti, an Oldstone Eggbert son. A decade later, just over two weeks ago in February 2020, Dovea Genetics purchased a Cloverfield Excellent son of a Meillard dam, going into AI later this year.

Loving Living the Leitrim Way.

Females

So what’s the secret to success? Jon says it’s simple: “Keep an eye on the females and the bulls will come. There are a lot of breeders just focused on breeding bulls and they forget about the important part and that’s the breeding female. You have to get the cows right first and that takes time. You need a good functional female – good legs, nice bone, good head and a good wide pelvis. It’s important not to have too much muscle in a female. In my opinion, too much muscle leads to hard calving and no milk, so I stay away from it. It’s important to have a balanced female for all traits. You need to be correcting all the time. If I have a cow with a sickled leg, I’ll try and pick a bull that is very correct on feet and legs to over-compensate for this.”

I averaged €6,000 for 14 bulls in 2000, which was great money at the time

Males

Jon believes ease of calving has to be in there “without losing out on growth rate. Those bulls are out there and it’s important that we promote them. We should be targeting 1.5kg/day on our young bulls.

“The commercial farmer using Charolais needs that whether they are selling weanlings or finishing cattle. You need functional bulls as well, good on the legs and feet fit to do the job for the commercial farmer”.

Stars

It’s a contentious issue with a lot of pedigree breeders, but Jon says we have to move with the times and use everything available to try and better the breed. “We shouldn’t lose the art of being able to judge an animal on appearance. If we lose that, the thrill of breeding is gone for me. Figures and stars should be used as a tool to complement your eye."

Figures and stars should be used as a tool to complement your eye

Farming with nature

“You need to be very conscious of your surroundings farming in north Leitrim. You can’t fight with nature because you’ll come out the loser in that battle. We can talk about early turnout, but if Mother Nature says no, like this year, that’s it and you need to be prepared for that. We’re not overstocked – you can’t be on north Leitrim land, or you’d go broke very quickly. It’s about improving things for the next generation and leaving something behind.

“We have planted hundreds of trees over the years, including re-establishing old hedges on the farm. We have also put in some shelter belts around the farm for stock in tough weather. We’re lucky that we have a river running through the farm. There’s nothing more relaxing than being down there on a summer’s evening, trying to catch a salmon or trout on the riverbank.

“There’s something about this area that calms you down. You have the mountains, a river, peatland, woodland and you’re only 4 miles from the sea. You almost can’t get any closer to nature and farming alongside it is one of the most natural things in the world to do.”

Future plans

“Keep doing what I’m doing and most importantly, get enjoyment out of it. Ten more years and I’ll let someone else take a crack at it. I’ll keep trying to get different bulls to click with different cows.

You can’t fight with nature because you’ll come out the loser in that battle

I’m not afraid to try something new. I keep a close eye on UK genetics and have had some good luck with females out of the Maerdy herd. Suckler farming is getting a rough ride at the moment and numbers are dropping off here in the west.

“The serious farmers in suckling are still able to give good money for bulls and that’s the market I want to be in.”