The Irish Cattle Breeders Federation (ICBF) seems to be getting a hard time lately from every angle.

Whether it’s reduced funding from tag levies, EBI calculations, genomics, €uro-Star values, AI contracts or reduced Gene Ireland participation, the cattle breeder’s database organisation seems to have been hit by a perfect storm.

Perhaps a good PR agency is needed to fight off some of the arrows heading in their direction. Or perhaps we need to remember what exactly the organisation was set up to do.

The ICBF was formed with the aim of improving the genetic gain of the national dairy and beef herds through using science and technology to breed more profitable beef and dairy animals.

Spending time making breeding decisions

With the breeding season about to start on a majority of dairy and suckler farms, decisions made now will have an impact for many years to come.

Sometimes, I feel that not enough effort is placed on breeding decisions on many farms. A bull is selected based on his colour, breed or stars without actually looking at what is required on your own farm.

Charolais and Salers (above) breeding on the farm.

Personally, I have been using the ICBF website for about 10 years to assist in making breeding decisions on the farm. Breeding of suckler animals is one of my favourite areas of farming and it is an area I like to spend some time on.

Over the years, I have used the website to research stock bulls, pedigree bulls for sale and the suckler beef value of the herd.

Improving the next generation quicker

In recent years, more people have become aware of the ICBF through the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) and catalogues available at sales with €uro-Stars values.

Whereas one time you needed to see the local AI man to find out if a bull was easy calving or depend on his pedigree to predict calving ease, now there is a database with thousands of farmers’ records available at the touch of a screen.

Genotyping is the science behind the technology to speed up the availability of data on a bull. To improve the next generation quicker.

With the BDGP re-opening to those who didn’t enter at the first attempt, now is a good time for the ICBF to get out the message of the positive influence they can have on cattle breeding.

A line that sticks with me from the BDGP training course is “genetic gain is both cumulative and quantitative”. Something we should bear in mind when breeding the next generation of animals on our farms.

Farmer Writes: put time and effort into breeding season

The ICBF seems to have been hit by the perfect storm, but it's important to remember why it was set up in the first place, writes Trevor Boland.