Beef farmers heard key messages from top-class advisers at the Teagasc national beef conference in Athlone this week. One key message is that better breeding can deliver €172 more per suckler cow and AI usage should be increased.

Farmers were presented with clear statistics outlining the difference in one-star and five-star cows. How good or bad three- and four-star cows are relative to a five-star is not as clear.

Unlike the dairy herd, the suckler herd falls down on the lack of information available. Data collection from farmers is a key function of the new BDGP scheme – collect more information to make more reliable decisions. (See page 53.)

Minister Coveney’s answer to Éamon Ó Cuív’s question about monitoring carcase trim on kill lines reveals how inadequate the present system is. His answer, that over 38,500 carcases are inspected by his officials, a second year-on-year increase, highlights the inadequacy of the system. (See page 31.)

Only a tiny 3% sample are seen at all and there is no mention of sanctions other than an “inspection report form is furnished to factory management … and where appropriate factory management is required to address any deficiencies”.

This is totally inadequate. All carcases should be independently monitored on a continuous basis, as was the case before mechanical grading was introduced, along with real sanctions for non-compliance.