Suckler Cow Fertility – the complete picture

July 2, 2025

CAFRE Beef and Sheep Adviser, Faith Stewart, recently visited Geoff McNeill on his farm outside Coleraine to discuss the new Suckler Cow Fertility Themed Groups.

Geoff with his father, William, farm approximately 100 acres, with a key goal of improving fertility within the suckler cow herd. The herd comprises of an autumn and spring calving herd, replacements retained, and males finished as bulls. Cows are Simmental X and bulls used are Limousin and Simmental. The farm business has also established a separate dairy calf to beef enterprise. 

Faith comments, “Suckler cow fertility is the pinnacle to the success of any suckler herd. Profitability of the business will hinge on every cow producing a live calf every year. Careful management is required to ensure each cow conceives, carries the calf to term, delivers it alive and rears it to target weaning weights.”

Having previously been involved in development groups Geoff accessed to one-to-one help, peer-to-peer learning and benchmarking feedback to promote improvements within the herd.

A baseline of current performance was established through on-farm record keeping of sire, dam and calf performance alongside financial benchmarking.  From this information, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) were outlined to set a clear direction for the business. Farm targets include 90% conception rates (within a 9-week breeding period), one live calf/cow/year, achieving a compact calving block, low assistance at calving and a calf weaning weight of 50% of the dam. 

On a yearly basis Faith provided the farm business with a full suite of fertility reports consisting of:

• Calving interval showing days between each calving for individual cows.
• Herd calving index, which is the average calving interval for the whole herd, also expressed in days.
• Reappearance rate, providing a measure of the fertility of a group of cows within a 12-month period.

These reports have allowed Geoff to examine his herd’s performance. Days are rated in a traffic light system for ease of reading. The current Suckler Cow Scheme target for year one is based on a 415-day calving interval, Geoff’s current herd calving interval is 375 days. Faith discussed the management practices that are carried out within the farmgate to achieve these targets.

Correct body condition score (BCS) and nutrition are critical during the reproductive and subsequent pregnancy period for not only the cow but the heifer. BCS is important for calving ease, fertility and calf performance. Grazing management has been improved by splitting fields into paddocks and measuring grass growth via plate metre and online software, AgriNet, technologies that were supported by the CAFRE advisory team. Grazing smaller paddocks has allowed Geoff to target the plant when it is at it’s three-leaf stage and optimum nutritional value.  AgriNet assists with troubleshooting any potential deficits and surpluses of grass and overall Geoff reports that stocking rates have increased across the grazing platform, allowing more land to be allocated for silage and arable production. Silage cutting dates have been moved forward from start of June to mid-May, first cut was harvested 14May.  Silage values include D-Values of 73%, ME 11.71/MJ/kg/DM and CP of 13.8%.  Analysing silage with CAFRE advisers allowed targeted feeding and budgeting of silage allocation. Good quality silage can be targeted to younger stock and bulls, and silage restricted to cows to prevent too much weight gain. Geoff aims for a BCS of 2.5-3.0. One BCS is the equivalent to 13% of the animal’s bodyweight so any changes to BCS need to be gradual. Cows will tend to gain condition cheaply at grass and lose it during the winter. Housing in the winter months allows for grouping to take place, to either add on or gently lose some body condition. With a recorded 4% assisted calvings Geoff is content with cow and heifer performance during the calving period, however, is planning to allow for batching for any corrective feeding.  Batching for feeding will allow for first calvers to be grouped separately. This will allow for preferential treatment of those heifers who are calving down at 24 months of age.

Replacements are selected based on dam performance (calving ease, milk and lameness), fertility and growth rates. During Geoff’s time in a CAFRE led group, age at first calving for heifers in the herd has been reduced to 24 months.  To achieve this, growth rates of heifers are used as a selection criterion, as research has shown that fertility is directly related to weight. Heifers are bulled at 15 months and >400kg.  Selection for high growth rates has also ensured that maternal traits are passed through. In the past Geoff has synchronised and artificially inseminated (AI) heifers, finding best results in autumn. AI bulls, and stock bulls are selected for easy calving and fleshing traits. Due to correct dam and bull selection and grassland management, calves are weaned at an average of 49.5% of dam weight. Bull calves weaned at average of 320kg and heifer calves weaned at 290kg. Geoff and William have always maintained a functional mature cow size of 620kg, a more compact cow requires less conserved feed during the housed winter season and more availability of the grazing season with earlier turn out. Cows receive pre-calving minerals to top up any potential deficiencies. Culling policy is based on fertility, lameness and udder issues. 

Geoff has plans to develop performance recording through the addition of electronic identification (EID) and weighing crush, complimented by an online app. EID in both cattle and sheep is a very useful tool for improving farm management, both labour reducing and time effective. Geoff works off farm and so time is valuable.  Information to be stored and recorded via the EID tag include birth date, weight, DLWG and medication data, allowing Geoff to record all antibiotic and anthelmintic dosages. 

Working with your CAFRE Adviser offers a range of benefits from tailored advice and guidance on new technologies to support with business planning. CAFRE Suckler Cow Fertility Themed Groups are now open for application. Participation in a Group can help increase the number of calving events achieving the annual Suckler Cow Scheme targets.

To make an application to the Suckler Cow Fertility Themed Groups or for more information contact your local CAFRE Adviser.