The Limousin Choice: James Alexander’s Strategy for Calving Ease and Premium Quality Calves

James Alexander “Jalex” – a regular buyer at Limousin Society sales and a highly respected commercial and pedigree breeder, is preparing for the second JALEX major commercial female sale this year, which will see over 150 heifers catalogued for auction on the evening of Friday, October 10th.

Quality-Driven Breeding Decisions

The majority of James’s heifers are in-calf to easy-calving Limousin bulls. Among the sires used on this group of heifers that were purchased at Society Sales are

• The Grove Farm P381 (Ewdenvale Ivor X Ampertaine Commander),
• Corcamore Romeo (Elderberry Galahad X Castleview Gazelle),
• Clonguish Ronald (Lodge Hamlet X Queenshead Altea),
• Ballyline Tiger (Mereside Godolphin X Castleview Gazelle),
• Portauns U Ivor (Edenvale Ivor X Bavardage).
• Carrowclogher Underrated (Plumtree Fantastic X Queenshead Altea)

The team of sires is completed by Ampertaine Uniform (Lodge Hamlet X Wilodge Cerberus and Ampertaine Prescott (Plumtree Fantastic X Ampertaine Abracadabra).

Catching up with James recently, I asked him about his preference for Limousin bulls. He explained:

We use Limousin for a few reasons.
My knowledge of the breed is a big factor, I follow and enjoy the Limousin breed, and have done so for longer than I care to think about, so I am able to follow what sires are doing.  It makes selecting a bull possibly more difficult at times, but safer.
Our customers want Limousin calves, from the man buying a top end blue roan E grade, to the straight Simmental X heifer –  it is Limousins that are requested. Mainly due to their high-grade quality in relation to ease of calving as well as their ability to be kept for replacements.

I have bulls that I’ve used for years on my most extreme E-grade heifers that are born, as a man once called them like “Red Foxes” but finish U-grades everytime.  Granted the heifer is doing a bit of the work on that grade but they are able to calf them and they get up and go in minutes and the calf still pleases.  I’ve even got a few in calf heifers in this sale that I bought back again after being sold in the belly of heifers.

You have to deliver what the market wants. We have return customers at every sale which is a great compliment to the team. We have been selling breeding stock for over 30 years and hopefully can continue to do so for quite some time.

We always use easy-calving bulls now – that’s key for our buyers. When buying a bull, if we like what we see, we study the breeding,  the myostatin status, (F94L double carriers are a must, given our heifer type), calving ease, and gestation figures. I find the ICBF Calving Ease figures to be reliable. I’m aiming for bulls with no more than 3% calving difficulty.

Changing Priorities Over Time

James admits his criteria for selecting bulls has evolved over the years:

The type of bull I was buying a few years ago for my own suckler herd and what I’m buying today for using on my sale heifers are very different.

When I was keeping my herd of 500 cows I had a selection of bulls but plates, width, and muscle was the key in selection for the bulls for my cows, I was aiming for E/U grade export/show quality stock from my BB x Lim cows.
Calving ease is now number one, but the calves must still have quality — Limousin lines, style and good heads. I like to see at least three generations of easy calving, a bull on the page that isn’t easy calving doesn’t suit, for what I’m doing now.

I also select different bulls depending on the type of heifer to use him on. For the more muscular heifers, I prefer a long, clean bull with a small head and finer bone, with the lesser muscled heifers I can use a bit more muscle and shape to try and improve the grade of the calf.

We are aiming  for calves born at around 38kgs to get up and suck and thrive.
The bulls I use on the muscled heifers wouldn’t leave a suitable quality of a calf for me on my Simmy/Shorthorn/type heifers and the better carcassed bulls I use on my plainer heifers wouldn’t give me confidence to use on my best, shapely types, different bulls for different jobs, bull selection is vital across all systems. Its key to producing what you want.

Strong Heifers with Market Demand

Most of James’s heifers have Limousin in their bloodlines, and he finds that Limousin bulls cross exceptionally well with various breeds. When it comes to selecting heifers, James is just as particular. He shared his thoughts on what he looks for:

There are different markets for different types of heifers, and we try to have a selection of heifers for all beef suckler systems so each type needs its own merits. Plates and pelvis are important to me across the board, width colour, length, correctness, ease of fleshing, depth of body are attributes that we desire. In some instances we want that real heavily carcassed beast but they are not for everyone, and neither should they be, although they are the ones that make the headlines – what we are known most for.

We try to select heifers that are well bred, if possible, it is good the know their sire and the sire of their dam. At buying, be it as weanling or stores, two heifers might look very similar, but the better-bred one will always make the better beast when it comes to sale day.

The industry is in a better place at the moment and there is finally a turn to be made and we all hope that it will last, quality stock with a bit of shape, power and colour is in demand like we’ve never seen before and that is what we are specialising in to supply to farmers all over Ireland and the UK.

The say “a picture paints a 1000 words”.  Looking through the pictures of the heifers for sale on James’s Facebook site shows the results of his approach.

Advice on Breeding Muscular Heifers

Given the quality and muscle on many of his heifers, I asked James whether he ever has trouble getting them in-calf. His advice?

With heavily muscled Lim X Blue crosses or strong Limousin heifers, we give them an extra few months – usually getting them in-calf pushing 600 kgs and at 20 + months old. That extra time really helps them develop properly. They go on to be much better cows and hold their flesh better.
If keeping them for cows, they could be bulled sooner, but for me selling them I want them to show more of their potential and have them on farm calving matured and ready.

It goes against what we are being told from those in charge but patience is vital in this industry, rushing a really good heifer that is shapely/muscled to go in calf and calve too young is not the way forward.  Granted a lesser carcass beast of certain breeds can do it fine but the muscled ones are laying down muscle and growing themselves and that is enough to ask.  Growing a calf at the same time and then sucking one as well slows the growth and thrive down, pulls flesh off their backs and makes it harder to get them back in calf. I’ve tried it, I’ve tried nearly all of it, 10,000 calves born here since I have been at it, and I’ve learned the hard way.

Patience is key though some would say it’s something I have none of!

Best of luck to James and the Jalex team with the sale this Friday October 10^rd at 6.30pm, ringside at 88 Gloverstown Road, Randalstown BT41 3HY, or online via Harrison and Hetherington.

As our call wrapped up, James’s next job was to take a look at the catalogue for the next Limousin Society Premier sale in Roscrea on Monday, October 27^th, hoping to add to his team of bulls for his 2026 autumn sale!

Limousin, The choice of JALEX, Make Limousin YOUR choice