Why Olivia Hynes Switched to 100% AI

Roscommon suckler and sheep farmer, Olivia Hynes, joins Catherine Egan and Teagasc Sheep Specialist, Damien Costello, to give an overview of her system and a preview of the FutureBeef National Farm Walk taking place on her farm on 29th July at 6:30pm. Olivia runs an intensive mixed grazing enterprise, with 49 cows calving in 2026.  In 2024, Olivia moved to a 100% AI breeding programme, a major shift following fertility issues with stock bulls. She now uses a mix of Belgian Blue, Charolais, Limousin, and Simmental sires, supported by two vasectomised bulls for heat detection. Her goal is to breed all replacements from within her own herd, improving herd health and reducing both disease risk and costs associated with purchasing animals. Selecting the right genetics for maternal performance, fertility, calving ease and carcass quality remains central to building a productive weanling system on Olivia’s farm.  Weanlings are targeted for the export market and sold in the local mart from September. Last year the weanling heifers weighed 359kg and the bulls weighed 361kg at time of sale. Olivia has placed great emphasis on increasing weight gain from grass while selecting AI sires with high carcass and conformation. Olivia complements the suckler enterprise with an early to mid-season ewe flock of 230 ewes. Scanning & weaning percentages are excellent with all lambs either finished off grass to factory specification or sold live in Roscommon mart.  With lambs weaned on the farm, thoughts are moving to selecting ewes for breeding season 2026 and carrying out the ram NCT. This will be a practical demonstration at the farm walk and which will be of huge interest to sheep farmers.  Reducing labour on the farm when managing sheep will also be discussed on the evening with a discussion around TAMS equipment. Join us on Wednesday, 29th July at 6:30pm for a FutureBeef National Farm Walk on the farm of Olivia Hynes, Kilcash, Co. Roscommon. The event will be signposted from Knockcroghery village. Further details at: https://teagasc.ie/event/futurebeef-f... For more episodes from the Beef Edge podcast, visit the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/thebeefedge   Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com (https://www.lastcastmedia.com/)