Cows producing 500kg of solids & quality beef calves in Donegal (2025)

Dairy farmer, Patrick Kelly is milking 300 cows in Finn Valley near Killygordon, Co. Donegal where the cows are producing 500kg of solids, while producing saleable quality calves.

Patrick is a fifth generation farmer and said that “I am a big believer in grass” and highlighted that they can grow a lot of grass where they are.

The key focus on the farm is to produce a quality cow that can last in the herd, be fertile and produce the desirable amount of milk solids while maximising the value of his calf crop.

Ever since Patrick returned home to the farm on a full-time basis, returning home from college, he has been breeding for milk solids and fertility and has been breeding cows for the last 25-30 years on that basis.

Producing 500kg of solids

Breeding season on the farm starts in the middle of May, Patrick used all Artificial Insemination (AI) last year and said that they bred a lot more beef on dairy.

Patrick used a very diverse and large bull team as he used 20 different dairy bulls altogether and will match each individual bull with appropriate cows.

For instance, a high yielding cow will get put to a bull that is high in solids and low yielding whereas a cow that is low yielding might get a bull with a bit more milk.

The farmer emphasised that “I don’t want an extreme sized cow” and that “she has to be able to work off grass” which is reflective in his production figures.

The cows produced on average 6,000kg of milk/cow and over 500kg of milk solids/cow with 4.4% fat and 3.75% protein.

Patrick said that the economic breeding index (EBI) is the driving force on the farm with in recent years, there has been an emphasis on selecting bulls positive for health traits with solids and fertility.

The Dairy bull team being used on Patrick’s herd this year is as follow:

Patrick does all the AI on the farm himself and expressed his enjoyment for it as he feels you’re handling the cows yourself, you get a better understanding for the cow and how you are managing the herd.

The dairy farmer praised his Progressive Genetics breeding advisor and AI technician, Ger McCool as he is constantly supplying him with the genetics he needs to improve his herd while getting great advice on dairy-beef.

AgriNet HerdApp

All calf registrations, movements, remedy usage, heats and AI serves are recorded on the AgriNet HerdApp which Patrick highlighted was very easy to use and essential to keep everything recorded and on track.

Patrick has been using AgriNet HerdApp for over 20 years to record births and register calves. AgriNet HerdApp allows Patrick to register calves, apply for movement permits, record inseminations and drug usage.

It allows him to have a complete oversight on his entire herd all within one app.

It is fully Bord Bia compliant and eliminates the need for unnecessary paperwork, as all of the herd’s information is stored on the app.

AgriNet HerdApp is Ireland’s leading farm management tool, that allows farmers to manage all the key day-to-day functions on a typical Irish dairy or beef farm, empowering farmers to make the right management decisions for more profitable dairy farming.

Dairy-beef

In recent years, Patrick has bred a lot more beef on dairy as he would rather have a surplus of beef animals rather than a surplus in dairy heifers and with the restrictions in nitrates, the farm will have to be gradually destocked.

The idea with beef calves is to get them off the farm as soon as possible and with the quality calves Patrick has been breeding, he has had no problems in doing so.

The first step in a successful breeding season for Patrick is to mark cows for culling or breeding based on milk recording data, as he said: “if you don’t have that it’s impossible, you’re working blind.”

From that, Patrick can mark which cows are for dairy AI and which are for beef AI and it allows for effective bull selection to match dam selection and mainly uses Aberdeen Angus and Limousin bulls.

Calving difficulty is crucially important for the farmer as he can’t afford to have a difficult calving as he sets his difficulty and selects for beef traits after that as he wants “as good a calf as possible without compromising on milk production”.

The team of dairy-beef bulls being used for the coming breeding season is as follows:

Patrick said: “I’m conscious that the farmer who buys the calf has to make a living from it” which is why he aims to breed the best beef genetics through a genomic tested Commercial Beef Value (CBV).

From the calves produced this year, the average CBV was €112 which was in the top 20% nationally which is reassurance to the customer, encourages repeat customers as he has had customers coming back to him for the last 20 years.

Through these quality bred beef calves of high genetic merit, Patrick is able to achieve a premium price at three weeks of age for these calves.

Patrick has built a reputation of having quality beef calves on offer and said “that message comes back through from the finishers, to the marts and to the man who buys the calf”.

Patrick avails of Progressive Genetics’ Proven Premium Sires which are easy calving, short gestation high CBV bulls with high conception rates, adding to the profitability of the farm enterprise.

Additional bulls available from Progressive Genetics this year are as follows: