The Irish Aberdeen Angus Association (IAAA) has distanced itself from comments made this week by the Irish Pedigree Breeders Council on the rollout of updated beef indices by the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF).

The comments by the council in this week’s Irish Farmers Journal outlined its disappointment at the response from the ICBF board in relation to the council's proposal to delay the proposed introduction of the changes by six months.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, a spokesperson for the council said: “Over the past number of years, pedigree breed societies have attended quarterly meetings with the ICBF in an attempt to have a positive influence on the direction of the sector.

"The fact that we were not informed on the suggested changes or their impact indicates that [the] ICBF [was] not operating in good faith."

'Disappointed'

The spokesperson added: “We are particularly disappointed with the silence from the farmer representatives on the ICBF board who are meant to represent the interest of all livestock farmers.”

The IAAA has taken issue with the comments made by the Irish Pedigree Breeders Council, stating that it had no prior consultation with the council over the press release that was issued on behalf of the council.

In correspondence from the IAAA to the pedigree breeders council seen by the Irish Farmers Journal, the IAAA says: “To issue this release on the advice of 'some society members' is unacceptable. The pedigree council is made up of all breeds and all should have a voice.

"The statement in this release is not the beliefs of the IAAA and I would imagine not the beliefs of many other societies. I would ask for confirmation of who was and was not advised and consulted on the matter.”

Dispute

The email went on to say: “The IAAA also dispute[s] the fact [that] we were not informed of the changes ahead of the release in the Irish Farmers Journal.

"We, along with most other breed societies, were present in Portlaoise in July when [the] ICBF outlined the revised economic values and weightings coming in the November run."

The Aberdeen Angus (AA) breed is one of the breeds set to benefit from the proposed changes, with the number of AA bulls on the top 100 on the replacement index moving from 29 to 46.

Continental breeds such as Charolais, Limousin and Simmental will all lose places on the top 100 list.

The planned roll-out of the new updated ICBF beef terminal and replacement indices will take place on Tuesday 28 November.