The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association (ICSA) has said that it supports the Pedigree Breeders Council of Ireland vote of no confidence in the board of the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF).

The council held the vote following a meeting of members of the ICBF Stakeholder Forum that took place on Friday (February 14) over the Euro-Star indices.

The forum was formed in a bid to address the concerns of suckler farmers and pedigree breeders following new Euro-Star evaluations which were introduced in November 2023.

In a statement, the council said: “Unfortunately, after twelve months of participation in the stakeholder forums, we the Irish Pedigree Breeders Council have taken a vote of no confidence and have lost complete faith in the ICBF board and Technical Advisory Group (TAG) committee".

The council has again requested a “fully independent audit” of the Euro-Star indices.

ICSA Suckler Committee chair Jimmy Cosgrave has said the farm organisation "stands firmly" with the Pedigree Breeders Council of Ireland in its decision to pass the vote of no confidence.

“ICSA also lacks confidence in ICBF, as well as Teagasc on this issue, due to their persistent failure to acknowledge and address the valid concerns of suckler farmers regarding the star rating system,” he said.

"Their reluctance to act on the well-documented shortcomings of the star rating system has cost suckler farmers dearly.

"Many have suffered substantial financial losses as a direct result of misguided policies and flawed evaluations.

"Worse still, the Irish suckler herd has lost some of its best genetics due to a system that has actively undermined proven, high-performing bloodlines," Cosgrave claimed.

Sean Coughlan, chief executive of ICBF, has confirmed to Agriland that the economic values of the Euro-Star indices will be updated in the summer.

Work is already underway on updating the economic values and is being led by Teagasc’s beef enterprise leader Dr. Paul Crosson.

However, the ICSA Suckler chair said that commitments from both ICBF and Teagasc to address some of these concerns are "too long overdue and may even be too little too late".

“Confidence in the entire breeding evaluation framework has been severely damaged and suckler farmers feel very wronged," he said.

Cosgrave also said the impact on the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) needs to be closely examined.

“The economics of suckler farming have been hanging in the balance for the past 10 years due to a series of flawed policies.

"While SCEP was intended to support farmers, only a fraction saw it as a worthwhile scheme to join, and even fewer remain, and of those who do, many are dissatisfied," he said.

Cosgrave claimed that "at the core of the scheme are flawed genetic evaluations that force farmers to cull top-performing cows simply because they do not meet arbitrary star rating requirements".

"This is unacceptable, as it ignores the real-world performance of these animals.

"Our best breeding cows are producing high-quality calves for export - why should farmers sign up for a scheme that penalises their success?" he asked.

The ICSA Suckler chair said that Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon should "sit down with all farm organisations to conduct a full review of the SCEP scheme and address the fundamental flaws that are driving farmers away".

"It is also time for ICBF and Teagasc to recognise that they cannot continue to ignore the very people who rely on these systems for the future of their livelihoods.

"Immediate action is needed to restore trust and ensure that breeding policies genuinely serve the best interests of Irish suckler farmers and the long-term sustainability of the sector," he said.