The National Genotyping Programme (NGP) has prevented over 59,000 incorrect sires being recorded at the registration of calves this spring, according to the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF).
As of May 1, 2024, a total of 459,428 calves had been genotyped from the 10,541 herds participating in the NGP.
A total of 59,290 sire errors and 28,196 dam recording errors have been prevented through the NGP to date this year.
The NGP has also lead to an increase in the number of calves available on the market that have a Commercial Beef Value (CBV), which gives farmers a clearer picture of the genetic beef potential of the beef calf they are purchasing.
According to the ICBF, 220,645 dairy heifers and 402,325 dairy cows have been been genotyped to date.
On the suckler side, 63,344 beef heifers and 17,053 beef cows have been genotyped.
CBV trends
The trends in the CBV of beef-sired calves from the dairy herd had been in gradual decline overall from 2015 until 2021.
The past two years has seen the overall CBV of beef-sired calves from the dairy herd start to increase again, albeit at a slow rate.
The ICBF has said that trends in CBV are “going in the right direction” and that “the biggest gains are coming from the Angus-cross (AAX) calves”.
ICBF calving statistics
Meanwhile, the latest statistics from the ICBF show that a total of 1.72 million calves have been registered to date this year.
As of Friday, May 10, a total of 1,752,316 calves had been registered to date this year. This figure is down 29,523 from the number of calves registered in the same time period of last year.
While the number of calves registered to dairy cows has increased, the number of calves registered to suckler cows has decreased.
Looking at calf registrations from the dairy herd, a total of 1,377,199 calves have been registered this year, down 4,776 from the number of calves registered in the same time period of last year.
A total of 375,117 calves have been registered to the suckler herd this year,a total of 34,299 head below the number of suckler-bred calves that had been registered in the same time period of last year.