The first Irish Limousin Cattle Society bull sale takes place on Saturday next the 13th of March at Elphin Mart with 92 bulls catalogued.
The catalogue can be viewed by clicking here
Viewing: Perspective buyers will be able to view the bulls at Elphin mart on the morning of the sale. Viewing times are from 9.00am to 12 noon on Saturday 13th by prior appointment only – book your viewing spot with Elphin mart at (071) 9635061. The Sale will be conducted adhering to Covid-19 guidelines.
Videos of many of the bulls can be viewed on the Society’s Facebook site: https://www.facebook.com/irishlimousinsociety
Limousin, number 1 cross on all main breeds
This is the Limousin Society’s newest statistic and clearly shows that Limousin is the Number 1 cross on all the main breeds while 56% of calves born to Limousin mothers were Limousin sired.
Breed |
% females that had a Limousin sired calf |
Belgian Blue |
45% |
Blonde D’Aquitaine |
34% |
Hereford |
32% |
Simmental |
31% |
Charolais |
28% |
Angus |
28% |
Aubrac |
19% |
The bulls at Elphin are from 46 different sires so you have a great opportunity of source Terminal, Replacement, Easy Calving, or Short Gestation bulls, whatever suits your cows.
Sourcing a top-class terminal bull
59 bulls catalogued have a 5* Terminal index, 31 of those bulls also have a 5* replacement index. Eighty one of the bulls catalogued have a 5* index for carcass weight.
The following table highlights Limousin is the number 1 beef sire across both beef and dairy cows.
Breed |
% calves registered to beef sires |
LM |
26.24% |
AA |
25.92% |
CH |
19.75% |
HE |
16.97% |
SI |
4.72% |
BB |
2.64% |
SA |
1.12% |
SH |
1.06% |
AU |
1.04% |
BA |
0.52% |
Sourcing a top-class maternal bull
Thirty six of the bulls catalogued have a 5* Maternal index, of these 31 bulls also have a 5* terminal index.
Limousin is the number 1 Suckler dam, 35% (or over a third) of all suckler cows in Ireland are Limousin. The next highest breed is over 15% behind Limousin
Breed of Dam |
No of calves registered |
% of calves registered |
LM |
298,901 |
34.66% |
CH |
168,188 |
19.51% |
AA |
117,617 |
13.64% |
SI |
89,953 |
10.43% |
HE |
86,237 |
10.00% |
BB |
38,063 |
4.41% |
SH |
30,224 |
3.51% |
SA |
19,897 |
2.31% |
BA |
7,375 |
0.86% |
AU |
5,807 |
0.67% |
Docility
Fifty of the bulls catalogued have a 5* docility Index. The focus on breeding docile Limousin cattle over the last 30 years has totally changed the reputation of the breed for all to see.
Calving ease
One of the main reasons Limousin is the number 1 breed in Ireland is calving ease. With such a high percentage of farmers having off-farm jobs, the calving ease figure is one of the first questions farmers ask when purchasing a bull.
There are many bulls with extremely predicted easy calving catalogued.
Three of the bulls have a predicted calving ease of less than 2%. This is extremely low and would be perfect for suckler or dairy.
A further 17 bulls have a predicted calving ease figure of less than 3%, so again very suitable for suckler or dairy.
A further 21 have a predicted calving ease figure of less than 3.7% which is below the breed average.
Gestation
With the huge growth in Limousin bulls being used in the dairy herd driven by the phenomenal prices Limousin suck calves are making as well as the better kill-out of dairy X Limousin compared to other breeds, easy calving and in particular the reducing gestation length are contributing to this trend.
Four of the bulls catalogued have a predicted gestation PTA score of less than 2 days, a further 7 bulls have a predicted gestation PTA score of < 3 days. These gestation lengths are comparable with the traditional breeds.
Limousin is far and away the continental breed of choice for the dairy farmer.
Total % of Continental Sired calves from the dairy herd
Breed |
% sired calves X dairy |
LM |
48.24% |
BB |
16.34% |
SI |
15.60% |
CH |
11.04% |
AU |
5.42% |
SA |
2.60% |
BA |
0.76% |
Farmers sometimes read about the top prices at the Limousin premier sales and may feel these bulls are outside their price range, however, there are always a percentage of bulls that make between €2,100 and €2,500 and are considered bargains.
Following is a list of the sires followed by the number of their offspring that will be in Elphin
-
Plumtree Fantastic x 8
-
Derrygullinane Kingbull x 6
-
Lodge Hamlet x 6
-
Bavardage x 5
-
Telfers Munster x 5
-
Ampertaine Elgin x 4
-
Ampertaine Gigolo x 4
-
Ampertaine Magnum x 3
-
Elderberry Galahad x 3
-
Grangeford Jojo Et x 3
-
Mereside Godolphin x 3
-
Ashbrook Johnny B Good x 2
-
Ewdenvale Ivor x 2
-
Ionesco x 2
-
Keltic Handsome x 2
-
On-Dit x 2
-
Ronick Hawk x 2
-
Whinfellpark Lomu x 2
There will be one bull by each of the following sires:
-
Ampertaine Commander
-
Ampertaine Foreman
-
Ampertaine Inferno
-
Ampertaine Majestic
-
Beaghmore Island
-
Casimir 65
-
Castleview Gazelle
-
Castleview Lawerencer
-
Cross Liam
-
Dromanig King
-
Excel
-
Fenomen
-
Gerrygullinane Glen
-
Goldies Jackpot
-
Grahams Apache
-
Indigo
-
Lowflan Lee
-
Marchermore Augustus
-
Mullary Intrepid
-
Ozeus
-
Sympa
-
Templequain Mercury
-
Trueman Jagger
-
Vagabond
-
Wilodge Cerberus
-
Wilodge Goldcard
-
Wood Road Donald Et
-
Wood Road Malachy Et
Free transport will be provided to central locations in NI and to designated locations in the south
All bulls are:
-
From herds that participate in CHeCS accredited Jones herd testing
-
fertility tested from high health status herds
-
export tested => available for immediate export to NI
