NO MOUNTAIN TOO HIGH!!!
Climbing Mount Everest to milking cows in Co Fermanagh is just two of the
things, which keeps Raymond Hassard busy. Raymond along with his father
Eric milk 35 cows at Churchill, Co Fermanagh. He milks as well as having a
full-time job. While in his spare time he has successfully climbed most
mountain ranges that are accessible. However, it is when he is at home on
the farm he is most focused on the jobs in hand. You only have to walk
through the cows with Raymond to discover he knows them inside out as
Cogent’s Ashley Fleming discovered when he dropped in on Raymond this
week.
Raymond has been using Cogent bulls from day one but more significantly he
has used Cogent Sexed Semen from when it first became available. “ It
seemed an obvious choice,” said Raymond. “It give us heifer calves,
improved our genetics and did away with bull calves. We used it initially on
cows and only selected are best ones to use it on. This provided us with ease
of calving and allowed us to use beef on the bottom end. I feel we have made
great progress genetically in doing so. This year we plan to do our maiden
heifers also with sexed semen to provide more females. I have found over
the years, there is no room for shortcuts or the conception rates will suffer.
We have had a major hit of heifer calves with even several sets of twin
females. Getting heifer calves allows me to work out and travel, knowing my
father shouldn’t have any difficulties to overcome. For us it has been
successful but it does require attention to detail.”
Raymond has used a wide range of proven bulls and as a member of Visions
he samples some young sires. He has just calved two daughters of Dalbytop
Phil, one of the exciting new sires in the Cogent line-up.
For more information on Dalbytop Phil or Sexed Semen please contact Ashley
Fleming on 07775 561823