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Using the Limousin as a terminal sire over Holstein females to improve the quality and value of the progeny is providing a win win scenario for the Gould family, Grange Farm, Bomere Heath near Shrewsbury. Having milked cows all their lives, the family of Mick and Jean Gould, son Mick and wife Katherine, were looking to a new venture to future proof the business which they run along with three members of staff. The small herd of just 15 pedigree Limousin females plus young stock runs alongside 750 Holstein milkers and young stock. “We believe the Limousin is the top beef breed to produce beef from dairy and suckler herds as they produce easy calving sires and they maximise the more expensive cuts of beef and for lean forequarter beef. The breed has excellent growth rates and food conversion figures,” said Mick, adding that the dairy will always remain the family’s primary focus.
Background? I grew up on a farm in Millbrook, Oldcastle, Co Meath, and was the second eldest of six children. My father bred Hereford and Simmental cattle along with suckler cows on the farm. I left school at 15 to help out on the farm with the intention of going to agricultural college when my older brother, John, finished school and was going to stay home for a year. Unfortunately, John got leukaemia before this happened and died at the age of 19. It was a tough time for all the family, especially my parents. What got you into breeding Limousins? A very good friend of my father, William Mulligan from Banbridge, Co Down, would visit regularly and, to hear him talk about the breed and what it had to offer, lit a fuse within me.