LIC, the New Zealand-owned AI company, has issued letters to their Irish customers reminding them of their obligation not to sell bull calves from their top bulls to competitor AI stations.

The LIC premier club was established in 2017 as a slimmed down version of a legal contract between the farmer and LIC. Farmers who become members of the club agree not to sell their bull calves to competitors.

In recent months, Irish AI companies have been very active issuing bull dam contracts to Irish farmers. These contracts are an agreement between the AI company and the farmer that in the event the cow has a high-EBI bull calf, that calf will be sold to the AI company.

Contracts

The Irish Farmers Journal is aware of a number of cases where Irish AI companies have issued contracts for cows that are in calf to LIC premier club bulls. Up to €6,000 is available for suitable calves.

In his letter to LIC premier club members, Mark Ryder, who is the manager of LIC Europe, warned farmers of the serious ramifications of selling offspring outside of the club, including immediate expulsion and the loss of access to LIC genetics products.

“Whilst it is gratifying for us all to be acknowledged for breeding the right cow for Ireland, you simply can’t afford to compromise continued access to NZ’s best,” the letter states.

Jersey bulls

Meanwhile, Teagasc has updated its breeding advice to dairy farmers. It says that if using Jersey or Jersey crossbred bulls, only sexed semen should be used.

The organisation says that dairy farmers should only breed enough high-EBI dairy replacements for what is required and to then use high-EBI beef AI or stock bulls and that dairy-bred ‘sweeper bulls’ should not be used.