Irish Simmental Yearbook 2022-D 2 - Flipbook - Page 23
SIMMENTAL NUMBER ONE BEEF
BREED FOR CORK DAIRY HERD
Pete & Paula Hynes milk 180 pedigree holsteins on a spring
calving grass based system. They farm with their three
daughters Chloe, Becky and Georgina. Based in Aherla,
Co. Cork.
ete is a columnist with the Farming
Independent & the family are heavily
involved in promoting mental health
awareness in the agricultural sector
founding #AgMentalHealthWeek in
2020 whilst both also being ambassadors for the
#TackleYourFeelings mental wellbeing campaign
with Rugby Players Ireland & Zurich Insurance.
With EU milk quotas abolished in 2015 the goal
was to expand the dairy herd from 50 cows to
180 cows which happened rapidly and when herd
numbers reached our requirement the focus was on
ef昀椀ciency. We had used a number of beef breeds
however Angus calves were a poor seller for us and
while we were reasonably happy with Hereford
calves we found the bigger ones hard on cows and
the smaller ones weren’t very pro昀椀table.
P
All our replacement heifer calves are genotyped
in the 昀椀rst month with surplus heifer calves sold at
12 weeks of age. This system of using young elite
Holstein sires has allowed us to maximize genetic
gain in the herd with our herd EBI now standing at
156 which is 40 points ahead of the target that was
set for us. Our breeding policy has shifted in the
last 3 4 years with all heifers on 昀椀xed time AI which
allows us to calve 75% of them in the 昀椀rst week of
calving and cows we want replacements from also
being served with Holstein. That breeding policy
has meant we still have good milking cows which
we don’t necessarily want replacements from and
choose to AI them to beef sires from day 1 of the
breeding season.
We are 昀椀rm believers that as dairy farmers we have
Paula and Peter Hynes
Irish Simmental Yearbook 2022
21