New Hereford breeder hits the jackpot on first day out with €3,300 sale

Hayfield Maxulius George, exhibited by John Hartigan, sold for €3,300 sharing top price

Kye Morgan 883, bred by Padraig McGrath, was joint top seller at €3,300

Hayfield Maxulius George, exhibited by John Hartigan, sold for €3,300 sharing top price

Kye Morgan 883, bred by Padraig McGrath, was joint top seller at €3,300

Rathnollag racer sold for €3,000

Hayfield Maxulius George, exhibited by John Hartigan, sold for €3,300 sharing top price

Martin Ryan

April 27 2021 02:00 AM

John Hartigan made a memorable debut as a pedigree Hereford breeder, sharing the leading price for a home-bred bull at the Irish Hereford Breed Society Pedigree Sale of bulls at Kilmallock Mart.

With his distinctive ID tag number 001, Hayfield Maxulius George sold for €3,300.

The first registered animal in John's Hayfield herd at Coolruss, Bruree, Co Limerick, was described as “a tremendous bull with a pedigree to match”.

George is a Four Star Terminal and Four Star Replacement Index bull, and was sired by Trillick George of Freetown Hotspur, bred in the herd of J J Farrell in Co Longford. He is out of the dam, Oldcastletown Alice 2, bred by Tommy Dunne, of Kildorrery, Co Cork.

Hayfield George has a predicted calving difficulty of 1.6pc on beef cows, which is slightly over half the average for the breed. The beautiful dark red bull scored five stars for carcass on his index and qualified for a €200 cash-back for the purchaser.

Irish Hereford Prime sponsored €200 each for the purchasers of the five top price bulls at the sale.

There was a 40pc drop from the catalogue entries in the number of bulls going through the sales ring.

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"Home sales are particularly strong this year and quite early in comparison to last year, with many farmers opting to buy bulls in breeders’ yards," said Louise Callan of the Irish Hereford Society.

There was a 6pc clearance rate at the sale, with the average price of €2,464 only €21 shy of last year.

Sharing the leading price was Kye Morgan 883, bred by Padraig McGrath of Cloonshannagh, Elphin, Co Roscommon, one of the regular price toppers.

Kye Morgan 883, bred by Padraig McGrath, was joint top seller at €3,300

Born July 2019 and sired by Gageboro Morgan, Kye Morgan is a Four Star Replacement Index bull with a Five Star figure for milk; he sold to a commercial farmer from Cork.

The third highest price was €3,000 for Rathnollag Racer, bred by Sinead Conry of Rathnallog, Ballinagare Castlerea, Co Roscommon.

Rathnollag racer sold for €3,000

Born September 2019, Racer has a great pedigree, being sired by F.H William and bred from a Steil Gerard Dam. This bull has both a Four Star Replacement and Four Star Terminal Index.

Other leading prices included -

*Aliehs Harry 6 from the Aliehs Hereford herd in Kerry of Timmee and Sheila O’Sullivan, Ahane Cross, Brosna, sold for €2,700. Bred from Kye Harry 697, a Free Town Hotspur son, Harry is a Four Star Replacement and Four Star Terminal Index bull with stars across the board in terms of Carcase weight & Milk.
*Moyclare Sander, bred by Michael Molloy of Clonlyon, Glebe, Belmont, Birr, Co Offaly, sold for €2,500. Sander, born in June 2019 is a son of Free Town Nadal – an easy calving sire.
*Boveen Ted, bred by Joe O’Connor of River View, Sharavogue, Birr also for €2,500. Ted, born in October 2019, is sired by Ballyvlinngold Captain – a Cill Cormaic Kasper son and is a Five Star Replacement.