About

The farm is located in the townland of Derrycreevy, near Benburb, Co Tyrone, in Northern Ireland and is managed by Alan and David Irwin with David being the fourth generation to run a dairying business on the farm.

The land comprises of approximately 240 acres of grassland and cereals, with dairying being the primary focus.

The farm was initially a mixed dairy, beef and arable farm. The cows were lost to brucellosis in 1974. The present herd started in 1979 with heifer calves in 1977. No stock has been purchased since 1977. There is huge emphasis on bio security, for this reason no animals have entered the farm since 1977, with all animals on farm today being bred from these original purchases, with the exception of a handful of bought in embryos to introduce new families.

The cows are all Pedigree Holsteins, with some of the top genetics in Europe alive on the farm today.

Redhouse Holsteins has been one of the highest yielding herds in the UK and Ireland continually for decades now, with average yields consistently in excess of 13000L, and combined fat and protein now in excess of 1000kg per cow. Great  emphasis on management allows the cows to express their genetic potential successfully.

Redhouse Holsteins are not only big yielders, we are proud of our cows ability to survive and thrive for many years. We have bred 33 100 ton cows to date with more added to the list regularly. In 2016 we received our master breeder award from Holstein UK, on our first application for it. This highly exclusive award highlights our cows production and longevity.

We realise that a lot of dairy farmers are too busy, or just not interested enough, to follow the fast paced Holstein genetic industry, and unfortunately we have heard time and time again that semen salesmen either do not know what they are talking about, or they are just trying to sell units of semen, or some of the mating services just unload cheaper semen while forgetting about the long term needs of the farmer. Thats where we come in.

If you utilise Redhouse Genetic Solutions, we will use our years of experience to offer you solutions to your breeding needs. With many years of experience and a lot of success along the way, the proof is in the pudding.

We can select bulls for you to breed your cows & heifers. We will help you create a long lasting, functional cow, with the genetic potential to give plenty of milk, and last many lactations, The ability for her to express her potential after that, is up to you.

Redhouse Genetic Solutions is different. We are independent. We do not and will never gain anything from advising you to use any AI companies bull. The only thing we sell is our honest advice, based on years of experience.

We can help you choose which portion of your herd to serve to sexed semen and which to serve to beef.

We can work within your budget. If you want to pursue elite genetics at a higher budget we can accommodate that, and if you want to improve your herd with a more moderate budget we can easily help you achieve this.

We will view the cows and any data you present to go along with them, to come to the best mating decision tailored to your individual needs. If you need stronger cows, we can breed for that. If you need more fat and protein, we can breed for that. If you need more fertile cows or a lower somatic cell count, we can breed for that. Every aspect of how a cow performs is heavily influenced by genetics, and if a cow has bad genetics, no matter how good your management is, she may just not perform.

We can’t promise to fix everything in 1 generation but we can certainly help you to start moving in the correct direction