They are one of the largest animal health companies that many people have never heard about- and they are the biggest one that is privately owned. The company is Alltech Animal Health- and Alltech welcomed Class XV of the Oklahoma Agricultural Leadership Program to their European Headquarters in Dunboyne, Ireland on Tuesday. One of the officials that talked with OALP was Cathal McCormack, who leads beef cattle marketing efforts in Ireland for the company.








McCormack told us that he was raised on a beef cattle farm in eastern Ireland, and has worked within the beef cattle industry most of his life. He described Ireland as a significant player in the beef export marketplace- number five internationally in the sales of beef to other coountries. What we call beef cows in the United States are referred to as "suckler cows" in Ireland- and McCormack says there are a little over a million head of these suckler cows in the country, along with a significant number of dairy cows in the southern counties of the country.








As we heard and saw in Scotland, there are few beef animals that are left out in the winter months, as the rainfall makes the ground so soft, the animals have a hard time moving around without getting bogged down- so they are usually inside a good portion of the winter. McCormack adds that as a farmer finishes his beef animals for slaughter, he will barn them for the last two to three months before they are taken to the abattoir to be processed. At that time, they are fed a "concentrated forage diet" that Alltech has developed feed additives for that will enhance the animals ability to digest and add pounds of gain more efficiently.








McCormack and others at the Alltech Bioscience Centre indicated that was what Alltech does very well- develop and market products that are feed ingredients that improve the performance of not just beef cattle, but all food animal species, as well as equine and companion animals.








We talked with Cathal McCormack about the beef cattle business in Ireland and how Alltech strives to serve those farmers in Ireland and the other countries within Europe- click on the LISTEN BAR below the video to hear our full conversation with him at the European Headquarters of Alltech.





Source: http://www.oklahomafarmreport.com





Video link to Dr Pearse Lyons of Alltech: http://bcove.me/jf3ibzsj