Traditional beef breeds are set to rocket up the rankings at the expense of continental breeds in the first major revision of the ICBF’s beef replacement and terminal indexes since 2016.

Belgian Blue, Charolais and Limousin bulls will be downgraded in the replacement index, while traditional breeds such as Angus and Hereford are set to be elevated.

The new indexes place a much bigger emphasis on carbon efficiency, downgrading the importance of carcase weight, while also rewarding shorter gestation and punishing bulls with difficult calving traits.

From November, the new rankings will include calculations for age at slaughter, TB and carbon cost.

A preliminary run in July saw the Belgian Blue breed lose its top spots in the terminal ranking.

No Charolais bulls made it on to the top 100 replacement index list. In contrast, the Angus breed jumped from having 27 to 41 bulls on the list, while the Hereford breed also jumped from having three to 13 bulls in the top 100.