Latest news with #IrishCattleBreedingFederation
Agriland
2 hours ago
- General
- Agriland
Less than 1 in 4 calves born to suckler cows to date this year
Latest calf registration figures from the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) show that fewer than 1 in 4 calves born to date this year have been registered to suckler cows. There have been a total of 1.8 million calves registered as of Friday, May 30, this year. Of these, 436,000 have been registered to suckler cows with the remaining 1.4 million calves registered to dairy cows. On a percentage basis, this equates to 24% of calves born in suckler herds and 76% of calves born in dairy herds. Looking at suckler calf registrations, numbers are down almost 17,000 on this time last year with 436,398 suckler-bred calves registered as of Friday, May 30 of this year. Dairy calf registrations are down 29,000 this year to 1,407,281 as of Friday, May 30. Total calf registrations are down almost 46,000 (45,957) to date this year to 1,843,679 as of Friday, May 30. With 1.4 million calves registered to dairy cows this year and calf exports just under 188,000 as of Sunday, May 25, it can be assumed that approximately 13% of all calves born to dairy cows have been exported this year. There has been a significant drop in the number of calves being slaughtered in Ireland this year. As of Sunday, June 1, just over 2,500 calves had been slaughtered under Category V. In the same time last year, the number of calves slaughtered was over 16,000 calves higher at 18,682 calves. The significant drop off in calf slaughtering comes following changing regulation surrounding calf slaughter and compliance with Bord Bia's Sustainable Dairy Assurance Scheme (SDAS).
Agriland
4 days ago
- Business
- Agriland
Explainer: How do proofs fluctuate in the ICBF Active Bull List?
The most recent evaluation of the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) Active Bull List has sparked a bit of controversy among farmers as one of the most popular bulls in the country had his Economic Breeding Index (EBI) drop like a meteor. So, naturally enough, the most recent evaluations caused debate among farmers, with many looking for a bit more clarity on how these evaluation are made. Agriland highlighted these concerns among farmers with the ICBF, and asked for more clarity around how these evaluations are carried out and how bulls are assessed. The bull causing the debate is Tankardsrock Teak (FR7929), who previously held the top position on the ICBF Active Bull List prior to the most recent genetic evaluation. However, in the latest update, his ranking has dropped significantly as he fell 200 places to 201st. This decline is largely attributed to a reduction of €73 in his Fertility Sub-Index, which also impacted his Carbon Sub-Index, decreasing it by €8. The bull – which is owned by the National Cattle Breeding Centre (NCBC) – was the most used bull in the 2024 season, which demonstrates why farmers are concerned about his sudden drop in EBI from €370 in March to €287 now. How do proofs fluctuate? It was highlighted by the ICBF to Agriland that Tankardsrock Teak moved from a Genomic Proof (GS) to a Daughter Proof (DP-Irl), as daughter performance data was included in his EBI for the first time. Consequently, Teak's proof reliability increased by 13%. While daughter records are now directly contributing to his Milk Sub-Index, his fertility proof is still primarily driven by genomics and predictor traits. Predictor traits are genetically correlated with economically important traits. For example, Milk Kilograms (Milk Kg) is used as a predictor trait for Calving Interval and Survival. The ICBF highlighted that these traits serve as proxies to improve the reliability of evaluations—especially for young animals who have not yet expressed the target traits. They are important tools for making early, informed selection decisions that enhance herd productivity and profitability. So, for Tankardsrock Teak's latest evaluation, two new predictor traits were incorporated into his Fertility Sub-Index calculation for the first time, which was Age at First Calving (AFC) and Milk Kg. Teak now has 257 daughter records for AFC and 127 daughter records for Milk Kg and on average, his daughters calve 0.65 days later than their herd mates and produce 152kg more milk. While the increased milk production is genetically favourable, the strong negative genetic correlation between high milk yield and fertility contributed to the drop in his fertility index. Combined with the slightly poorer AFC performance, these factors have significantly impacted his EBI. Fertility genomics vs. reality What we can take from this data is that genomic predictions for milk performance are proving accurate, which is evident in Teak's daughters' milk yields. However, Teak's daughters will not yet have any calving interval and survival phenotypes, the traits that will make up the fertility sub-index. The ICBF confirmed that first lactation milk recording data has been obtained and given the negative association built into the evaluation between milk and fertility have caused his fertility prediction to drop. That said, there is still one remaining predictor trait yet to be included ahead of Teak receiving first parity calving interval and survival data later in the year: Calving to First Service (CFS). Interestingly, this trait has a stronger genetic correlation to fertility than both AFC and milk kg and may help recover some of the decline in his fertility sub-index once it gets integrated, so, maybe not all is lost in terms of the fertility of this bull. It is also worth noting that fertility records on later parities are also used where available so a sire will not be fully proven for fertility until his daughters that survive reach the start of their sixth lactation. To accommodate the implementation of new economic values into the EBI and the introduction of a genetic base change, the next genetic evaluation will take place in late September. Certainly, Teak is one to keep an eye on for the next evaluation as his CFS data will be incorporated and will give a better insight into his fertility performance. ICBF advice The only real practical way of overcoming these fluctuation in proofs and avoid having such a fluctuation affect the EBI and genetic merit of your herd, is to have a large bull team and not to overuse one bull in the team. The ICBF highlighted that genomics has been proven to work and is accelerating genetic progress across the dairy industry. While fluctuations in bull proofs can be concerning such as the recent changes seen with Teak, they are not unusual as similar adjustments have occurred in the past as more daughter data becomes available. To minimise the impact of these fluctuations, farmers are strongly advised to use teams of bulls when breeding replacements. No more than 15% of heifer replacements should come from any single bull. This strategy spreads risk and ensures a more balanced herd. Despite the recent drop in his Fertility Sub-Index, Teak continues to demonstrate excellent genetic merit for milk production and may be suitable bull to use on your herd. It's still too early to determine where his fertility figures will ultimately settle, particularly with additional data yet to be included in his evaluation.
Agriland
29-05-2025
- Business
- Agriland
Table: Top 10 AI sires for autumn 2024 suckler births
Almost a quarter of the suckler-bred calves born in the second half of 2024 were sired by artificial insemination (AI) bulls. The second half of 2024 saw 151,748 suckler-bred calves born on Irish farms, of which 34,382 (23%) were registered to an AI sire, according to Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) data. Of these, 44% have already been genotyped and 10 sires account for 32% of all the AI suckler progeny born in the first half of 2024. The table below details the top 10 AI sires with the most suckler-bred progeny recorded to them between July 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024: Rank AI code Name Number of progeny Repl. Index Term Index GI sire 1 CH4321 Lapon 2,184 €71 €155 Yes 2 LM2014 Ewdenvale Ivor 2,066 €152 €143 Yes 3 LM4217 Moondharrig Knell 1,036 €160 €97 Yes 4 LM7416 Powerful Proper 942 €142 €123 Yes 5 LM4184 Loyal 913 €145 €122 No 6 CH4159 Knockmoyle LokiET 902 €120 €156 No 7 CH6490 Orbi 759 €104 €126 Yes 8 AA4089 lntelagri Matteo ET 667 €223 €114 Yes 9 CH7503 Cloonradoon Ricky 620 €34 €131 Yes 10 BB4438 An de Beauffaux 576 €71 €91 No Source: ICBF As can be seen above, the top 10 list is dominated by well-proven Charolais and Limousin sires along with one Angus and one Belgian Blue. The 10 sires listed above have an average replacement Index of €122 with relatively high reliability across all the sires and very high in some cases. Seven of the top 10 sires, and all of the top four sires have graduated from Gene Ireland over the years, which, according to the ICBF, 'highlights the value of the programme for consistently progeny testing young high impact sires'. Other top AI sires by breed for suckler-bred calves born in this time: Aubrac : Turloughmore Magnificent (AU4683) with 185 progeny registrations; : Turloughmore Magnificent (AU4683) with 185 progeny registrations; Belgian Blue: Negrita Du Lac (BB8019) with 322 progeny registrations Negrita Du Lac (BB8019) with 322 progeny registrations Belgian Blue: New Red (BB7638) with 306 progeny registrations; New Red (BB7638) with 306 progeny registrations; Salers : Knottown Roy (SA4604) with 410 progeny registrations; : Knottown Roy (SA4604) with 410 progeny registrations; Simmental : Curaheen Earp (SI2152) with 258 progeny registrations; : Curaheen Earp (SI2152) with 258 progeny registrations; Simmental : Curaheen Gunshot (SI4147) with 182 progeny registrations; : Curaheen Gunshot (SI4147) with 182 progeny registrations; Simmental Leeherd Lynx (SI7491) with 177 progeny registrations. The high number of sires coming from Gene Ireland 'helps to drive the rate of genetic gain by building high-reliability indexes at a young age on the back of robust data recording', the ICBF said. 'Every spring and autumn, a new panel of young, high genetic merit AI sires are made available to suckler farmers for just €8/straw.' lntelagri Matteo ET was the most popular Angus sire on suckler cows, with 667 calves registered in that time. HW Lord Horatio (AA6682) was the second-most popular Angus AI sire on suckler cows with 344 calves registered to him, followed by Tubridmore Twomey (AA8472) with 294 calves registered in this time.
Agriland
27-05-2025
- Business
- Agriland
What's causing the unforeseen calf price surge this year?
The unprecedented calf price surge this year has come as a surprise and, with prices continuing to strengthen as the year progresses, many are wondering – what has caused this trend? At the start of 2025, the average price for an Angus bull calf under three weeks-of-age was €246. In the week ending Sunday, May 18, the average price for these calves had increased to €413 – a price increase of 68%. The average price for Friesian bull calves of the same age increased from €155 to €272 in this time – a 75% rise, according to the official Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) calf price data for dairy-dam calves traded at marts. The obvious attributing factor is the recent surge in beef prices with Irish factory quotes for steers (bullocks) increasing from €5.60/kg on the grid in the first week of January to €7.50/kg on Monday, May 26. This has naturally caused a rise in the prices paid for all types of cattle, and anecdotal conversations with mart managers and farmers countrywide would suggest more farmers are opting to rear calves this year as a result of store cattle prices having increased so much. Mart managers are also observing calf exporters outbidding farmers for calves – even at the current prices – indicating a continued strong export demand for calves also. At some calf sales in the past week, up to 90% of the calves were bought by calf exporters with Friesian bull calves being bid to as high as €460, according to some auctioneers. This would suggest that the export demand for Irish calves is also a key factor currently driving up the prices being paid. Figures from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) show that as of Sunday, May 11, almost 170,000 calves have been exported this year – up 15% on the same time of last year and the highest on record with data available for the past nine years. As of May 5, 2025, Irish calf exports to Poland have more than doubled to 17,300 from the 8,300 Irish calves exported there in the same time period of last year. Calf exports to key markets such as The Netherlands and Spain have also increased compared to last year. Another interesting trend evolving on calf exports has been that the number of heifer calves exported in the first 18 weeks of this year has also more than doubled when compared to last year. 35,500 heifer calves were exported in the first 18 weeks of this year up from the 16,300 heifer calves exported in the same time period last year. To put these figures into context, in the first 18 weeks of 2017, only 1,200 heifer calves were exported. According to DAFM, the increase in female calf exports consists largely of beef-sired heifer calves to The Netherlands, Spain, and Poland with no major change in exports of male calves. So while domestic farmer demand is playing a part in rising calf prices, export buyer activity also a key factor in the calf price surge.
Agriland
22-05-2025
- Business
- Agriland
2025 calf registrations drop off by 38,000 to date this year
There have been 38,000 fewer calf registrations to date this year, as of Friday, May 16, according to the latest calf registration figures from the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) . As of Friday, May 16, a total of 1,763,046 calves had been registered. This figure is down 38,054 head on the 1,801,100 calves registered in the same time period of last year. The number of suckler-bred calves registered this year has fallen by 11,500 head to 390,706 from the 402,270 registered this time last year. The number of calves registered to dairy-bred cows to date this year has fallen by 26,500 head, with 1,372,340 calves registered to dairy-breed dams as of Friday, May 16. Pedigree registrations have also declined, according to the ICBF figures, with 69,500 pedigree registrations to date this year – down 22,300 from the same time last year. Calf registrations down, but prices up The big talking point in the calf trade this year has been the significant uplift in prices paid for calves. After a number of tricky years for the calf trade that led to subdued prices and a difficult trade for plainer-type calves, spring 2025 saw prices continue to rise as the year progressed. The largest volumes of calves have now been sold from most spring-calving dairy herds but there are still reasonable numbers of calves available for sale around the country. According to the ICBF calf price data for dairy-bred calves traded at marts in the week ending Sunday, May 11, Angus bull calves from 3-6 weeks-of-age averaged €434/calf up €32 from the previous week. Angus heifer calves from 3-6 weeks-of-age averaged €328/calf last week. Hereford bull and heifer calves from 3-6 weeks-of-age averaged €444 and €349/head respectively last week. Belgian Blue bull and heifer calves of the same age averaged €540 and €519/calf respectively, with Charolais bull and heifer calves averaging €496 and €418.
