Teagasc, the ICBF, Enterprise Ireland and Meat Industry Ireland have launched the world’s first national multi-breed genomic evaluation for sensory-based meat eating quality.

Meat eating quality data collected on over 6,000 cattle, which began in November 2016, now resides in the ICBF database, making it the largest such database globally used for genetic evaluations.

Donagh Berry of Teagasc said: “Ireland boasts a unique selling point of safe, nutritious and responsibly produced beef, but are under constant threat from ever-aggressive competitors. We must continually innovate, and delivering year-on-year improvement in meat eating quality will become our new point of differentiation”.

Philip Carroll, chair of Meat Industry Ireland, said: “The index will be essential in delivering continuous improvement over time in terms of meat eating quality. Given the challenges currently facing the wider sector, this initiative will be important in helping exporters continue to secure the best export outlets possible for our beef.”