Ireland now has more than one million cattle genotyped, ICBF has revealed.

Ireland is only the second country in the world to surpass this milestone, with the USA crossing the line in 2016 for dairy cattle. For beef cattle it is the world’s largest genotype database, with over 894,000.

When only breeding-age animals are analysed, over 31% of the Irish national beef herd is genotyped, giving unprecedented insight into the genomics of the national herd. No other country has this level of its national breed herd genotyped.

A spokesman for the ICBF said the level of genotyping would not have been possible without the support of the Irish farmers, herdbooks, AI companies and the Department of Agriculture.

This level of genotyping allows Ireland to have an extremely accurate pedigree, quickly analyse newly reported genetic traits and defects, reduce genetic disease risk and give farmers insights into fertility, feed efficiency and disease resistance.