The list was published on Monday and the average economic breeding index (EBI) on the active bull list fell compared with last year.

“There are three main reasons why EBI proofs have fallen compared to last year,” according chief executive of the ICBF Sean Coughlan.

“Firstly, a base change in August on average knocked €71 off the EBI,” Coughlan told the Irish Farmers Journal on Monday.

“Secondly, the inclusion of fertility records for 2011-born sires now with daughter proven records has better defined the fertility bias between genomic and daughter proven proofs. On average, this effectively led to a correction of between €30 to €40 in EBI proofs.

“Thirdly, for some sires, a system update to software used in the generation of proofs has re-corrected EBI proofs.

“While the above changes were not anticipated to happen until the next official evaluation in May, the board of the ICBF recently took the decision to bring forward the changes so that farmers have the most up-to-date information for spring 2017,” Coughlan said.

The ICBF says the active bull list continues to improve, with the listing being €7 ahead of last year, up from €222 in spring 2016. This figure accounts for the base correction in August 2016.

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