The Irish Hereford Breed Society (IHBS) Spring Premier Hereford Show and Sale took place on Saturday, March 22, at GVM Tullamore Mart.

There were a total of 32 Hereford bulls present on the day, which kicked off at 10:30a.m with the pre-sale show.

The judge on the day was Brian Clarke of the Church Hill Herd in Co. Meath, who was assisted by Colin Burke, one of the eight Next Gen Hereford members who will be travelling to the World Hereford Conference in Kansas City, US, this coming October.

The average price was up by €1,040 head from the 2024 average sale price of €4,000 to settle at at €5,040 for this year's event with a clearance of nearly 75% of the bulls present.

The top price of €8,600 was achieved by Lot 33 Country Crest Brooks HH. This bull placed second to the pre-sale show Reserve Champion in class 4 and was purchased by a pedigree Hereford breeder based in Northern Ireland.

Judge Clarke tapped out Lot 22 Kye Ranger 034 as his champion from the the herd of Padraig McGrath, Co. Roscommon.

With 5 stars on the Terminal Index and 5 stars in the beef sub-index of the Dairy Beef Index (DBI), this August-2023-born bull was sired by Pulham Ranger and bred from Kye Katie 927 ET – a Pulham Powerhouse dam. The bull was not sold on the day.

The Reserve Champion of the show was awarded to Lot 32, Balleen Some Machine from the herd of Thomas Brennan, Co. Kilkenny.

This October-2023-born bull was sired by Ballinveney United 2 and bred from Balleen Cece 71091.

Some Machine has a page of stars, with 4 stars for the Replacement and 5 stars for the Terminal and Dairy Beef Indexes (€120), along with having almost three times the breed average kg for carcass weight (+15.8kg). Some Machine sold for €7,400.

The rest of the sale went off as "a great success", according to the society with a further eight bulls making over €5,000.

A total of 10 bulls made in excess of €5,000, with six of these exceeding €7,000.

Lot 38, Balleen Thunderstruck from the herd of Thomas Brennan, Co. Kilkenny was the second-highest priced bull at the sale, making €7,500. He was purchased by Keenagh Herefords of Co. Longford.

Thunderstruck is a November-2023-born bull, sired by Ballinveney United 2 and out of Balleen Lenoie 71166, with 5 stars on the Replacement Index and a Beef Sub-Index of €102.

Selling for for €7,200 was Lot 11, Corlismorepoll 1 Fortunate 246 and Lot 43 Moyclare Xzander.

Fortunate was bred by Sean, Gary and Evelyn McKiernan from Co. Cavan and was sired by Corlismorepoll 1 Declan 173 and out of Boycefield Louisa 32nd.

He sported 5 stars on the Terminal Index and the DBI (€117) along with a below-breed average calving difficulty figure for dairy cows of 3.3%.

Lot 43, was the final lot in the catalogue. Moyclare Xzander from Michael Molloy’s Co. Roscommon-based herd, was sired by Caislean Jake and his dam is Moyclare Rose 40.

Xzander has 5 stars for the Terminal Index, DBI (€132) and Beef Sub-Index (€102) and also has a below-breed average calving difficulty figure (dairy cows - 3%, beef cows 1.6%).

The final bull to meet the €7,000 mark was lot 10, Ardmulchan Vesuvius HH. Vesuvius comes from the herd of Philip and Catherine Smyth from Co. Meath and has 5 stars for Docility (+0.17), Age at Finish (-23.87 days) and Daughter Milk.

He is sired by Ballinveney Tiger and is out of Ardmulchan Clover 619.

Lot 9, Clooncullane Magic 544 HH a July 2023 bull sired by Trillick George was sold for €5,600.

Magic comes from Co. Roscommon breeder, Coman Neary, and is out of a home-bred cow, Clooncullane Tina 460. He has 5 stars for replacement, with double the breed average fertility (Daughter calving interval -6.76 days).

Lot 13, Shiloh-Farm Jewel PH was the next-highest price of the sale, selling for €5,500 from the herd of Sarah and Hugh Murray in Co. Westmeath.

Jewel has 5 stars for both the Terminal Index and DBI (€125). Another easy-calving bull, Jewel has a below-breed average dairy cow calving figure of 3.3%.

Lot 20, Grianan Bulter, from the Co. Westmeath herd of T and A Fitzgerald, sold for €5,300. Another 5-star Terminal Index bull, Bulter is sired by Rossmore Rocky Balboa and is out of Grianan Orange R 792 ET.

The Fitzgeralds were straight into the ring again with Lot 21, Griananpoll 1 Burly, who was the last bull to make more than €5,000 on the day.

A Panmure 1 Henry sired bull, out of Griananpoll 1 Orange V 931, Burly has a page of figures to go with him.

He has 4 stars on the Replacement Index and has 5 stars for the Terminal Index (€113), the DBI (€124) and the Beef Sub-Index (€109).

Other prices on the day included:

Lot 1: Clonleam Yank HH sold for €4,300;
Lot 2: Corranpoll 1 Kingbull sold for €4,000;
Lot 3: Corranpoll 1 Kingfisher sold for €4,200;
Lot 4: Ardstewart Bruce HH sold for €4,400;
Lot 5: Carrick Milo HH sold for €3,700;
Lot 8: Daneswood Nascar sold for €4,500;
Lot 14: Portanob Fred sold for €3,600;
Lot 16: Bawnlea Fatboy Slim HH sold for €3,900;
Lot 23: Macmine Goliath HH sold for €4,800.

The breed society expressed its thanks to pre-sale inspector Thomas Fitzgerald, show judge, Clarke, sale auctioneer, Eamonn Gaffney, GVM Tullamore Mart, sale photographer, Tricia Kennedy, all stewards on the day and Irish Hereford Prime for their continued sponsorship.

The Irish Hereford Breed Society will host its next sale in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary on Thursday, April 3.