Race, language, religion, dress, hairstyle, looks, hair colour, sex etc etc etc – these are all used daily to divide people into groups to discriminate against them. It is not the most attractive human trait and I believe we should recognise the tendency within ourselves and resist it as much as we can.

The cattle business is not free of it either. One farmer may hate Herefords while another may hate Belgian Blues. One may hate heifers and another may hate bulls. And we all hate Holsteins. Also, just as in humans, the sex before marriage thing often crops up. I am referring here to the delicate matter of the “once-calved” heifer.

Definitions

Exploring the wisdom of our received language, cows are female cattle that have had two or more calves, whereas females remain heifers until they have had their second calves. These definitions came from a time when the only way to know the age of an animal was from its teeth. Thus a female with two full incisors was classed as a heifer, for meat quality purposes, regardless of having calved or otherwise.

Nowadays, we no longer need to inspect teeth to know the age. The national ID system knows the exact age of each and every animal. Therefore, the present system of pricing cows and heifers is an anachronism and has no basis in beef quality.

Quality

I am absolutely sure that the beef of a 30-month once-calved heifer has similar or better eating quality to that of a 24-month maiden heifer and yet our factories and butchers will pay 20% less for it. This is clear and unjustified discrimination and may even be fraud because I very much doubt the price differential lasts beyond the killing line.

In France, the prime Gourmand Beef of Blonde, or Limousin or Charolais is harvested from a three- to four-year-old once-calved heifer. The French regard this as the prime beef for flavour and texture. Meanwhile, in Ireland the same animal would be priced the same as a 10-year-old cow. Is it not time to do away with the cow versus heifer distinction and pay instead on age? The overall efficiency of our national beef production would be enhanced by such a move.

Production systems based wholly or partly on once-calved heifers have a much higher biological efficiency and could significantly reduce the carbon footprint of our beef. It is high time to stop the discrimination. Maybe I should start a march in Dublin. Can anyone suggest a slogan?