ICBF published the latest Eurostar evaluations for beef animals in the past week. I’m not going to get into the pros and cons of the ICBF Eurostar evaluations, which have been well versed at this stage, but I am going to give a summary of my use and experience of using the beef evaluations.

After every evaluation, which happens three times a year, I look at a breakdown of my herd average across suckler cows, breeding heifers, beef heifers and bull calves.

The latest figures published give my sucklers an average replacement value of €91, compared to €89 in the August evaluations. This tells me that as more information and genomic proofed figures are included in the evaluations, the more consistent and reliable the overall figures are.

Heifers earmarked for breeding, which includes in-calf and maiden heifers are showing a replacement index value of €112. This figure tells me that future cows in the herd will have a higher Eurostar value than their predecessors.

It is my stated aim to improve the replacement index value of the suckler herd by 20% per annum

Heifers that I intended to sell live or slaughter over the next year have a replacement index value of €102. Slightly less than my replacement heifers, but higher than my current herd of cows. This is to be expected as these heifers are mainly bred from high index bulls, however they are from cows that I do not consider to be among the top performers in the herd and are a beefier type of heifer.

It is my stated aim to improve the replacement index value of the suckler herd by 20% per annum. This could become more difficult as the herd improves and indices become more reliable. The one thing I will not do is cull low index cows solely on index value. Cows are culled based on their performance and the performance of their progeny.

Record accurate data on all animals in the herd and eventually these animal’s Eurostar values will reflect the actual performance of the animal on the ground

I have heard stories of people culling cows because they only have one of two stars. Farmers must remember that even if in the Beef Data and Genomics Programme there is no need to cull one, two or three star cows. Record accurate data on all animals in the herd and eventually these animal’s Eurostar values will reflect the actual performance of the animal on the ground.

With the replacement value of the herd where I want it to be and increasing, I have started paying more attention to the terminal index.

In the future, I will use bulls that maintain a high replacement index, positive figures for milk, retain calving ease and have a higher than average figure for carcass weight. Overall, I want a balanced bull across terminal and replacement indices. This is one reason why there will always be a place for both maternal and terminal pedigree breeds and breeders.

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