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Over the last three years, significant changes have come about at the helm of ICBF. Sean Coughlan replaced Brian Wickham as chief executive and Wexford dairy farmer (former IFA national livestock chair) Michael Doran replaced John O’Sullivan as chair.
It hasn’t been a smooth transition of power, as one of the biggest funding challenges to hit the organisation landed late in 2016 when the ICBF tag levy was made optional for farmers ordering tags for 2017.
Only about 40% of farmers have since ticked the box to allow the 38c/tag levy be collected. This has left a large deficit in the ICBF budget for 2017.
So where now for ICBF?
Doran is very clear: “Ultimately this organisation is 100% Irish farmer-owned. It cost over €2m to start up this initiative over 16 years ago. Farm organisations put in over €1m of this at the start.”
With tag levy funding now disappearing, is Doran concerned for the future?
“Yes, it is a huge concern. The fact only 40% of farmers are signing up to the levy effectively means we are short over €400,000 of operational funding.
“We can’t expect some farmers to cough up money while all will benefit. We need the right long-term model where everyone is contributing,” he maintains.
But why is he so strong on this point?
“It’s all about data ownership. If we don’t have all farmers behind us, ICBF is potentially open to vested interests and powerful global breeding companies or private Irish companies coming and investing with us to get farmers’ data,” he explains. “For a small investment, farmers get a huge return over the lifetime of a farming business.”
When it is put to him that farmers must not believe they are getting a good return if they are not willing to pay the 38c levy, Doran is quick to react.
“It’s very difficult for farmers because they hear conflicting messages from many stakeholders. Often it is easier just not to tick the box,” he says. “I feel it’s fair to say at least 50% of the 20kg increase in carcase weight of finished animals from 2005 to 2015 is due to better breeding. If you multiply that increase by €4/kg on 1.2m animals slaughtered every year, it comes to over €60m.”
Doran goes on to explain that he feels more beef farmers are looking at the replacement index rather than choosing on just breed.
Independent research backs this up. One Teagasc study of 50 commercial suckler herds with over 3,700 spring-calving cows shows the higher-index herds delivered calves which were 41kg heavier at weaning from cows that are 22kg lighter on average.
This was delivered from a mix of different breeds, 50:50 AI and stock bulls. These are more efficient animals.
But what about the dairy side?
“On the dairy side we have been on this track for a long time and genetic gain has delivered a smaller cow with higher milk solids and better fertility, bringing it from a direction where fertility was declining and higher volume was the only key driver of profit,” says Doran. “Dairy farmers have a clear signal in terms of EBI, which is measured in euro of the extra profit per lactation better cows can deliver.”
Background
The Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) was set up almost 17 years ago in May 2000, originally funded largely by farmers’ money with support from the Department of Agriculture.
New Zealander Brian Wickham was appointed chief executive, while Cork Holstein Friesian breeder John O’Sullivan was appointed chair.
Never far from controversy, ICBF has flirted with walk-outs and disputes since the very start. Breeders who once relied on family breeding lines and narrow selection indices have seen new breeding selection criteria and information on bulls from around the world move to centre stage.
AI companies also regularly lock horns with ICBF as a bull index can go up as well as down. The constant movement of indices frustrates breeders and AI companies, who invest a lot of money and time into stock often only to see value wiped away if the numbers don’t match up to the visible conformation or family bloodlines.
ICBF has rallied in the face of controversy and has established itself as the central breeding databank for Irish farmers.
Huge gains have been made on the dairy side of the business and the EBI has become the common currency for selecting and breeding commercial productive stock.
On the beef side, the star rating concept is beginning to make inroads as farmers are forced under new incentive schemes to have a certain number of four- and five-star animals in their herds.
ICBF funding: why not allow commercial companies fund the ICBF?
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