Increase Calf Revenue: Belgian Blue, Aubrac & Speckle Park Dairy Beef Sires

Dovea Genetics

Increase calf revenue: Belgian Blue, Aubrac and Speckle Park Dairy Beef Sires

Calf quality along with calving easy and gestation length have again been the focus in selecting dairy beef sires from the Belgian Blue, Aubrac and Speckle Park breeds. Within each breed we have both proven and test sires which are expected to perform well in dairy herds. At Dovea Genetics we strive to provide farmers with a sire that suits their herd so by having calving proofs it allows us to provide you with a reliable bull to suit your herd. Most Belgian Blue sires are tested across dairy herds in Ireland and across Europe to generate a calving proof before we recommend sires on dairy cows.

The highlight of the Belgian Blue team is An de Beauffaux (BB4438) who is a proven easy calving short gestation sire at 285 days and also backed by a very good calving figure of 112 in Holland. There is huge farmer satisfaction with BB4438 calves born and they have been noted be have exceptional growth rates and conformation as calves which have received premium prices. For those interested in colour, BB4438 is a red gene carrier so when crossed with red/red gene carrier cows the resultant offspring are likely to have lots of colour.

Another standout Belgian Blue suitable for use on dairy cows is Bricolage de Beauffaux (BB4494). Bricolage is the complete package as he has calving ease, short gestation and calf quality, all of which combine to give Bricolage a DBI of €103.

The standout Aubrac sire is Johnstown Nelson 1039 (AU6286) who has a huge DBI of €136. He is an exceptional sire in terms of carcass weight (+23.80 Kgs), conformation (2.37), calving ease (3.7%) and gestation (285 days). Nelson was a hugely popular sire for dairy cows in 2021 and we expect him to do the same in 2022.

We have both a proven and new recruit to the Speckle Park team at Dovea. Ballylough Edward (SP4866) is breeding exceptionally well made calves from dairy cows. At only 3.2% calving difficulty on dairy cows he is a very good sire to use for calving ease and quality calves with colour which receive a premium at sales.

The new recruit to the team is Kilbarry Harper (SP7347). Harper is predicted to be easy calving and has the ideal coat colour to breed the proper speckled colour from dairy cows.