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This is the 18th year of the active bull list. The list details the highest 75 bulls available in Ireland. To be on the active bull list, there must be semen available. The bull’s EBI must be greater than or equal to 35% and calving difficulty reliability must be greater than or equal to 70%, with at least 50 calvings recorded. The EBI details of the 75 bulls on the list are based on the December 2017 genetic evaluations computed by the ICBF.
Of the 75 bulls listed, 61 are Irish-bred. This means that over 80% of the bulls on the list were bred here in Ireland. This wasn’t always the case. In 2001, there were just two bulls on the list bred in Ireland. Holland, France, New Zealand and America have generally been where most of the bulls on the list have come from. This trend started to change around 2009 when the first of the Gene Ireland Irish progeny tested bulls started to come through. Foreign-bred bulls have made a comeback on to the list this year, mainly through the appearance of Jersey and Jersey crossbred AI bulls on the list. New Zealand has eight bulls, the US has four and the Netherlands and Norway have one each.
This year’s list is made up of 69 Holstein/Friesian bulls, three purebred and two crossbred Jersey bulls and one Norwegian Red bull. The 75 bulls on the list have an average EBI of €252. The bull EBIs on the list range from €324 down to €231. Sixty-six per cent of the bulls on the list are genomic bulls, with the remainder being daughter-proven either here in Ireland (24%) or from abroad (10%).
The return of Jersey and Norwegian Red bulls to the bull list has probably come about as a result of the changes to the relative weighting of fat and protein in the EBI.
With fat having more value than before, the EBI is rewarding bulls that produce more of it.
There are many answers to this question but four simple tips that will help you pick the right sires for your herd are the following:
1 Identify which EBI sub–indices your herd is low in. This herd sub–index information is available on the Herdplus EBI report that the ICBF generates for every herd that is signed up to Herdplus.
2 Pick an initial panel of bulls that is strong in the sub–indices that your herd is weak in.
3 Refine your list of bulls taking other factors into account, such as calving ease, inbreeding, price and availability.
4 Finalise your team of bulls to use in equal amounts across your herd. The ICBF sire advice programme can complete this step for you and also allocate the chosen bulls to your cows in such a way that inbreeding is avoided.
SHARING OPTIONS: