Results from the first year of the Teagasc maternal herd trial at Teagasc Grange have been disappointing.

The herd, which was established to validate the new replacement index, showed just €20 variation between high- and low-index cows.

There were just four days of variation in the calving interval between the two groups and the calving-to-conception interval was identical.

Pregnancy rate to first service was actually higher in the low index group. Meanwhile, when ranked on the key profit driving traits of milk yield and calf performance, the Teagasc work found that the high-index group had a milk yield of just 0.4kg/day above the low-index group.

This resulted in progeny from both groups recording similar liveweight at 212 days old.

Average liveweight gain from birth to weaning was also similar.

However, when the same group of animals was ranked on cow type, the dairy-crossed beef cows significantly outperformed the suckler beef cross cows. With the dairy-bred cows recording 2.1kg more milk per day, the weaning weight of progeny from this group was 23kg heavier than progeny from the pure beef-bred heifers.