Based in picturesque Enniscrone, Co Sligo, the name Scurmore Pedigree is synonymous with pedigree Charolais and Limousin cattle. Irish Tractor & Agri caught up with Farm Manager Niall Hynes who oversees the smooth running of this 250-acre enterprise on Ireland’s West Coast.
Scurmore Pedigree and the renowned Bostonia herd are quite rightly very proud of their past, with their tradition and knowledge of pedigree stock.
Pedigree stock and the Feeney family go back many years. In the 1930s Edward Feeney was one of a few farmers from the west of Ireland to purchase an Aberdeen Angus bull at the RDS Spring show in Dublin.
This tradition continues on with their herd of Charolais which have been exhibited at all major shows and sales in Ireland and Scotland. Progeny from their herd can now be found on many farms throughout Ireland and the UK.
Brothers Brendan and Greg Feeney, along with their dedicated staff, have developed the 250 acres farm at Enniscrone, Co. Sligo into one of the most modern pedigree and commercial farms on the western seaboard.
Brendan and Greg have always been involved in agriculture, helping out on the family farm with their parents in the 1970s/80s before immigrating to Boston, where they went on to establish the Feeney Brothers Utility Services.
The brothers now spend time in Boston and on the farm in Ireland, where they liaise with their staff to achieve the best farming practice and produce world class pedigree stock along with the commercial herd.
“Obviously with Covid, Brendan and Greg weren’t able to travel over and back as much as they would have liked but that has changed in the last couple of months,” Farm Manager Niall Hynes revealed.
“Both of them have visited the farm recently and are actively involved in regular meetings whether that be on the phone, email or video meetings. They can check in whenever they like. Covid did affect that end of things but hopefully we will get back to normal sooner rather than later.”
For his part, Niall has worked on the farm since 2013 and was appointed Farm Manager in 2018. He is dedicated to the wellbeing of all their stock, specialising in animal science and carrying out research on the needs of their livestock, customers and pedigree sector.
He is also the senior stock handler at shows and stock development events while Blair Feeney, a brother of Brendan and Greg, brings his retail management skills to the farm and can be seen getting involved in all aspects. Blair works closely with his brothers and staff to deliver world-class stock from the farm.
At Scurmore Pedigree, they employ both permanent and seasonal employees to help with managing the farm and looking after their herd of cattle. Their team is dedicated and hard-working, ensuring the highest standards of quality are maintained while also helping the farm deliver the best service to their customers.
“We’re pedigree Charolais and, since 2019, we are pedigree Limousin as well as commercial suckler cows,” Niall stated. “We have roughly 350 to 400 head of cattle, in and out through different times of the year, on 250 acres.”
So, what does a typical week as Farm Manager of Scurmore Pedigree look like? “Obviously, it varies at different times of the year but the main job seven days a week is checking the stock and, in the winter time, it’s feeding the stock.
“In the summer months, with regard to feeding, we run a paddock system. We try to utilise as much grass as possible. It’s what we have at hand here, it’s what we can grow the best and grow freely.
“We do all our own work as regards silage, reseeding, whether that be bales or pit. We do everything in house, there is very little work for contractors, as the Feeney brothers own all their own machinery.
“In the winter time, obviously, feeding is our number one priority, animal nutrition and health, along with cleaning and upkeep. There is plenty to keep us busy during the course of the year!” he added.
Scurmore Pedigree has been no stranger to show success in the past but Covid-19 has put a temporary halt to their winning run.
“We haven’t been showing in two years but we have had successful bull sales in late 2020 and 2021. We got €9,250 at The Charolais Society Christmas Cracker, sold to the Killowen herd down in County Kerry. In the Spring time, we had our first pedigree bull go to an AI station privately, we sold Bostonia Ringo to Kevin McDermott of K Genetics in Co Donegal.
“Following on from that, we had a very successful Premier sale. We got two bulls sold and exported to both Northern Ireland and Scotland, to two renowned pedigree farms. Bostonia Robynhood joined the Woodpark herd in Northern Ireland while Bostonia Richie made his way to Harestone Charolais in Scotland.
“Overall, we had a good year and we had a good year then at home on the back of that.”
Back in April, Drumshane Mademoiselle entered new territory when taking part in Bostonia’s first IVP collection and she didn’t disappoint when freezing 11 embryos with the team at AB Ireland in Cork.
“It’s new to Ireland and similar to IVF,” Niall explained. “Traditional flushing was originally the way but IVP is done in a lab where the eggs are fertilized in the lab. We’ve done that now a couple of times. We hope to be implanting in the next month and hope to have calves on the ground in 2022 by this method.”
Are there plans for further expansion of the farm in the pipeline?
“I suppose the pedigree Limousin has been the focus of our expansion over the last couple of years,” Niall answered.
“We purchased two pedigree Limousin heifers from the Millburn herd in 2019 and their progeny was born in 2020. The first thing I did with both of them was flush them and, the following year, 13 months later, I had nine pedigree heifer calves out of one heifer and two pedigree bull calves out of the other heifer.
“It was the best way to get into larger numbers in a short space of time. It took 13 months and all of a sudden we had nine pedigree females on the ground as calves. They’re yearlings now, they’ll be retained for breeding and we are hoping to calve them down in 2023.
“As a whole, we are very happy with how things are going at the moment. There were challenges but everyone was in the same boat. There are challenges coming down the line with pricing. No one really knows where that is going but we’re taking it day by day at the moment,” Niall concluded.
Scurmore Pedigree
Enniscrone
Co. Sligo
F26 F5N2
Office: 096 37243
Mob: 086 058 6749
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.irishcharolais.com
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 10 No 2, March/April 2022
