Brian Kelly from county Clare has recently received top marks in his Bord Bia Audit with the help of the Herdwatch app. Since getting the Herdwatch app three years ago, life has changed on the farm and he hasn’t looked back.

About The Farm

I farm alongside my dad Timothy today, with the help of my mother Mary, my wife Teresa and our two children Jack and Layla.

Our farm is in Kilnaboy, county Clare. We breed bulls and Heifers and sell them on to commercial and pedigree farmers in Ireland. Leana Limousins is the name of our herd which currently consists of 40 pedigree limousine cows. The aim for us is to produce the best quality possible with the best star rating possible.

A Good Bull is Essential

We are very lucky in the sense that we purchased a new bull two years ago and he is now ranked as one of the highest indexed pedigree bulls in the country and is in the top 1% for replacement and terminal within his own breed and across all breeds. He is breeding fantastic calves and is very consistent.

Paperwork was a torment

For years the paperwork was a torment, we like to keep things in order and too often I would write something on a piece of paper and I would lose it. It was a nuisance. I heard about Herdwatch when it came out 3 years ago so I decided to try the app and I haven’t looked back since.

“Herdwatch has brought a huge change to our farming life. It has definitely made things more efficient. If you’re checking something on the farm, even a medicine withdrawal or anything, it’s there in your hand on your phone no matter where you are.”

Getting Top Marks in the Bord Bia Audit

We recently had our Bord Bia Audit and we got top marks, the Auditor was completely blown away with our records in Herdwatch. I myself am very meticulous, I record absolutely everything, even a single 25kg bag of meal won’t go astray around me.

I record everything on the day I make the purchase. When you come back from the co-op or farm store, it just takes a first few seconds to record that into your phone, then it’s done, no more thinking about it.

It’s the same for recording animal remedy treatments. When the animals are in the shoot, I just enter what they got into Herdwatch and I’m done. No more rooting for pieces of paper the week before a Bord Bia Audit.

 Bord Bia is more than just getting cattle into the factory

Having a clean Bord Bia Audit really does stand to farmers. Farmers are always talking amongst themselves, so farmers will know that It’s not easy to get high marks in the Bord Bia Audit.

It might seem like nothing but it does carry value. It creates awareness amongst farmers that things are being done right on my farm.

“When a buyer comes into the yard and you have that Bord Bia stamp of approval it’s worth a lot. It’s not just about getting your cattle into the factory it goes a lot further than that”.

Future Plans For The Farm

The fact that we have such a high index bull at the moment, we hope good things will come from that. He is breeding very high index heifers for us so the hope would be that we will produce some bulls in our own herd that we will put into AI. If you can come up with

If you can come up with right bull and the right cow, you are away with it and we definitely have the quality. You will always keep pushing for more on the farm though, you will never be satisfied but I think that is a good thing.