Breeding Series 2023: ‘No square on the milk cheque for EBI’

Breeding Series 2023 in association with Eurogene, LIC and AI Services

The idea of picking low economic breeding index (EBI) bulls will be a foreign idea to many, but for one farmer, picking these bulls is resulting in high EBI cows.

Farming near the village of Emly in Co. Tipperary, Simon Breen milks 250 Jersey-cross cows in a spring-calving grass-based system.

The farm moved to the cross-bred cow a number of years ago, with Simon looking for a cow that would work in the system that he wanted to operate.

Kiwi-cross sires have been exclusively used on the farm for the last number of years, with excellent results being achieved.

Picking bulls on BW (breeding worth) along with advice from his LIC breeding advisor David Power has been key to Simon’s success.

EBI

The introduction of the EBI over 20 years ago changed the system of breeding dairy cows in Ireland forever.

With Simon’s herd having excellent EBI figures for production, this has been achieved by using bulls with low EBI.

The herd has an average calving interval of 364 days, with a six-week calving rate of 93% and empty rates of below 10%.

The continued progression of the herd can be seen in the figures for the young stock.

Simon describes the herd as being high efficiency, with mature cows weighing 490kg producing over 500kg of milk solids.

Herd performance

The low-EBI bull selected by Simon means that he is given a one-star rating in the co-op, but in the performance area, he is achieving five-star ratings.

This shows that although the bulls have a low EBI, they have good BW values which results in highly efficient cows.

This cow type suits the grass-based system that Simon is operating on this Co. Tipperary farm.

The data shows that although low-EBI sires are being used, it is resulting in highly efficient and profitable cows.

Sire selection

The importance of having good advice was also highlighted by Simon, with breeding advisors David Power’s knowledge of bulls being vital.

Simon has an aim to reach 5% fat, from its current level of 4.90% and 4% protein from its current level of 3.90%.

The bulls that have been selected for this year’s breeding season have an average figure of 5.5% for fat and 4.3% for protein.

A high-EBI calf is not important for his herd, according to Simon, admitting that he is instead looking for a high-EBI cow that will perform within the herd.