The rate of genetic gain in the national suckler herd is now comparable with what is being achieved in the national dairy herd, new analysis has shown.

Presenting at the Teagasc Beef Conference in Mayo on Tuesday night, ICBF’s Andrew Cromie showed that the genetic merit of the country’s suckler herd is now improving by €5/cow/year.

Furthermore, in 2019 (year-to-date), the average replacement index of first calving female replacements was €92. That’s up from €74 in 2014, the first year od the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP).

Putting an economic value on it, this gain is worth an estimated €60m to the beef sector or, in terms of beef price, 15c/kg.

This is a remarkable turn-around and highlights the potential that genetics has to offer to our suckler beef industry

Momentum

In reference to the suckler herd gathering the same momentum as the dairy herd, Cromie said: “This is a remarkable turn-around and highlights the potential that genetics has to offer to our suckler beef industry.”

He added: “The only difference [between beef and dairy genetics] now is the time lag. Change in the dairy herd started in the mid-2000s but for beef, it was 10 years later with BDGP.”

Currently, around 23,000 farms and over 540,000 cows participate in the scheme.

At the same time, Cromie acknowledged that the requirements of BDGP, particularly the euro-star evaluations, caused a lot of angst among farmers from the outset.

But he asked whether it has been successful and he went on to suggest that the best way to answer this question is to undertake an analysis of the first females that calved into BDGP herds.

Performance

Cromie presented analysis from 59,466 heifers that calved for the first time in BDGP herd between 1 January 2017 and 30 June 2017.

Looking firstly at fertility performance, results show that five-star females calved 59 days earlier than one-star females, and had a 13.6 days shorter calving interval.

To evaluate cow and calf performance, Cromie referenced the recently introduced the Beef Environmental Efficiency Pilot (BEEP).

“Of the 59,466 heifers in the prior analysis, 14,331 of these were weighed and qualified for BEEP,” he said.

Analysis of these weights showed that five-star cows were 16kg lighter than one-star cows but, significantly, had an 8kg heavier weanling. That equates to a 2% gain in weanling efficiency.

Cromie’s final defence for the success of BDGP came in the form of progeny carcase performance. His presentation showed that, on average, five star females were generating progeny with slightly lighter (7kg) carcases, but they were getting to slaughter at a younger age (29 days).

He argued that: “Based off a carcase price of €4/kg and a finishing cost of €3/kg, this delivers a net gain in profitability of almost €60 per animal.”