Westellen Boss Tops the Charts for ABP Dairy-Beef Performance
The Results are in!
Recent carcass results from the ABP Beef Demo farm in County Carlow have placed dairy-beef progeny of the Solnua Angus bull ‘Westellen Boss’ in both 1st and 2nd place.
All three bullocks were part of the ABP multispecies sward/grass comparison trial which is being operated in collaboration with UCD.
The first 14 bullocks averaged 354kg at 19-20 months, grading 6 R’s and 8 O’s with grades ranging from R+3+ to O=3=.
The top bullock – sired by Westellen Boss – AA9860
Westellen Boss -AA9860
‘Westellen Boss’ is sired by ‘Rawburn Boss Hogg N630’ and out of the ‘Sitz Upward 307R’ cow ‘Westellen Lady Blossom W884 ET from John Tait’s well known Angus herd in Midelton Co.Cork.
He is a high performance sire, high in Carcass Weight, Age at finish & Conformation.
He has a Dairy Beef Index of €166/88%rel which places him in the top 5% of the breed. He has a ‘Carcass Weight’ index of: +10.7kgs/88% rel whilst his Dairy Cow Calving is only at: 2.8%/99%rel with over 6000 dairy cow calving records.
With these impressive curvebender type index figures it is not surprising that his progeny outperformed their contemporaries when slaughtered by ABP recently.
Westellen Boss – AA9860
Speckle Park
The podium was completed with 3rd place going to an animals sired by another Solnua star – the Speckle Park Sire – Garrenjames Henry – SP7494.
Several years ago NCBC identified the ‘Speckle Park’ as being a breed worthy of inclusion in the ‘Speciality Breeds’ section of it’s Beef Breeding Programme.
Garrenjames Henry – SP7494
‘Garrenjames Henry’ graduated through this programme with an impressive ‘Dairy Beef Index’ of €111/90%rel. He has a ‘Carcass Weight’ index of: +7.8kgs/99% rel which is based on an amazing 1500 carcass records which were all slaughtered here in Ireland.
Garrenjames Henry – SP7494
Scollop Krackerjack – SP1521
‘Scollop Krackerjack’ is the latest Speckle Park Bull to emerge from the ‘Speciality Breeds’ part of the NCBC Beef Breeding programme. He has just received his first calving proof and it has’nt disappointed! With nearly 600 dairy cow calving he has an index of 2.9%/94% rel and he is also excellent on gestation length with a score of -1.2 days/99% rel.
He is proving extremely popular internationally not only for his calving ease and calf quality but also for his ability to sire red calves!
Scollop Krackerjack – SP1521
A pen of ‘Scollop Krackerjack’ calves on a dairy farm in Chile
In Ireland, we are fortunate to have the ABP Beef Demonstration Farm, operated by ABP in partnership with Teagasc and ICBF. Once our beef bulls graduate through the NCBC Breeding Programme, the ABP Demo Farm serves as an outstanding showcase of the tangible impact top-tier genetics can make.
The farm’s commitment to combining scientific measurement with expert stockmanship closely mirrors NCBC’s core principles. By openly sharing data and key learnings, the farm provides an invaluable resource that enables Ireland’s farming community to adopt best practices on a broader scale.”
As Ireland’s largest cattle breeding organization, the National Cattle Breeding Centre (NCBC) is a joint venture between Ireland’s leading AI and milk-recording providers Progressive Genetics and Munster Bovine. NCBC oversees dairy and beef breeding operations, including bull sourcing, progeny testing, and semen production. International marketing and global distribution of NCBC genetics are handled through its dedicated brand.
