As we gear up for the breeding season, it is important to consider what is going to drive profitability on your farm which stems from a cow that will last long in your herd while producing desirable milk solids.

A new bovine artificial insemination (AI) company to the Irish market, Bó Sires was established in 2023 by Neil Lahart and Martin Flanagan with an aim to "bring sires to the Irish market that will produce functional cattle with a will to milk".

Bó Sires offer durable, strong, hardy and long lasting Montbeliarde, Holstein, and Nordic Red bulls that are sure to add power and health to your herd.

Bulls are selected by Neil and Martin with a focus on longevity, from established, proven cow families as over 80% of the bulls are daughter-proven, providing the farmer with reliability and confidence in using their bulls.

The bulls selected in this years catalogue are selected with a focus on outcross bloodlines that bring longevity from established, proven cow families.

Neil said that: "We’re working with well-established industry partners to source our genetics from companies that share our values, namely; KI Kampen, Veecom, Coopex, and Viking Genetics."

KI Kampen is a Dutch AI company established over 40 years ago by farmers and they source bulls that breed durable cows with high lifetime production.

Veecom was founded by five farmers in the late 1980’s, and they market sires that breed for sustainability with their breeding programme founded on aAa principles. Viking Genetics provide semen from the Nordic countries.

All of the beef genetics are sourced from Coney Island Genetics with a range of easy calving, short gestation and quality carcass weight and conformation bulls on offer.

Coopex  is a federation formed by ten French farmer owner and controlled cooperatives and are the world leader in Montbeliarde genetics.

Coopex Montbeliarde is the world’s largest and most innovative Montbeliarde breeding programme and has worked with farmers around the world for more than 40 years and is present today in over 60 countries.

The Montbeliarde cow offers dairy farmers this longevity and power and are very much suited for cross-breeding with Holstein Friesian cows.

The Montbeliarde cow offers power, strength, exceptional health traits and longevity while having a proven ability to convert pasture to milk solids.

A research trial was carried out in the University of Minnesota where a herd of Holstein cows were compared to a herd of Montbeliarde (MO) x Holstein (HO) cows in which the crossbred cows showed superior results in comparison to the Holsteins.

The 10-year study is the most important scientific trial into crossbreeding dairy cattle yet undertaken and was led by Profesor Les Hansen and was published in 2019.

The crossbred MO x HO had a 19% more daily profit, with 27.5% more protein and fat kg, better conception rates, less health treatment costs, increased survival rate of 44% and were 8% more feed efficient.

Similar trials were carried out in California, Egypt and Denmark with all trials showing improved milk solids, lifetime profits, health, fertility and longevity.

Increasing the longevity of dairy cows can reduce their carbon footprint per unit of product, as they can potentially produce more milk over their life span with a lower replacement rate and fewer emissions from raising heifers.

The Montbeliarde bulls on offer are not only offering production, health and fertility traits but are also offering a chance to rectify cow type in your herd, to breed a cow that is suitable for grazing, long walks, with a decent beef value as well.

Cow type from body capacity, feet and legs, udder and teat placement are all clearly outlined in the catalogue, providing the farmer with an opportunity to breed for production, health, longevity, functional traits and cow type.

For more information contact Neil Lahart, 087 095 3744 or Martin Flanagan, 087 1661575