The ICBF and its programme partners have recently launched the new Gene Ireland panel of high-replacement index beef bulls for 2020.

Building on the success of previous programmes, these bulls have been selected on their potential to deliver in two key areas. Firstly, to produce heifers which are fertile and will have an adequate level of milk and, secondly, to produce a heifer that will deliver a calf with good beef attributes for traits such as growth rate, conformation and feed efficiency.

These bulls offer farmers the opportunity to avail of cutting-edge genetics at a price of €5 per straw

This latest panel of 11 bulls is made up of seven beef breeds and the average replacement index of the panel is an impressive €131. These bulls offer farmers the opportunity to avail of cutting-edge genetics at a price of €5 per straw.

Straws are delivered direct to a farmer’s DIY tank or to the AI technician of their choosing. The panel of bulls currently available is detailed in Table 1 and all the bulls’ full €uro-Star indices are available on the animal search facility at www.icbf.com. To order straws, call the ICBF on 023-882 0452.

Gene Ireland programme proving a success

Early results are very positive for the bulls which had semen dispatched since 2014. These were the first bulls selected by the Gene Ireland breed committees and are now hitting the >70% reliability mark for replacement index.

On average, the six bulls detailed in Table 2 have sired 263 daughters which have now calved themselves.

They are proving to have produced profitable females retained by farmers for breeding and, in many cases, the calves’ on-farm performance has led to the sires’ indices increasing. These sires have, at this early stage, a lot of key data collected on their progeny, such as calving records, weaning weights and even feed intake in Tully.

The bulls are good examples of how a young bull can reach a high level of reliability quickly via a structured progeny testing programme.

Gene Ireland user profile: Wilson Kells, Arva, Co Cavan

Wilson Kells runs a herd of 60 commercial suckler cows alongside a store lamb fattening system near Arva, Co Cavan. He has been a user of Gene Ireland straws for the last 10 years and currently over half the animals in the herd are sired by Gene Ireland bulls. He is also an active participant in the BDGP, GLAS, BEEP-S and BEAM schemes.

All progeny are brought to beef with the males as bulls under 16 months

The herd mainly comprises Charolais, Limousin and Simmental cows, with a small number of Angus and Salers starting to be used with good results.

All progeny are brought to beef with the males as bulls under 16 months and females not selected for breeding finished at 24 months.

Calving ease

All the replacement heifers are sired by AI bulls, with the ICBF indices used to identify sires strong for milk and docility, while also maintaining calving ease.

One of the standout cows in Wilson’s herd is IE121016651194.

Sired by the Gene Ireland Charolais sire YBH (Ballym Henri) and born in March 2015, this cow first calved at 25 months and has produced an incredible six calves (two sets of twins) in four years.

The future of suckler farming is reliant on a combination of targeted action-focused support schemes and the on-farm production of a top-quality traceable and sustainable product

She currently has a replacement index of €177 with a calving interval figure of 360 days and her first daughter has been retained in the herd for breeding.

This cow is a great example of what can be achieved in the suckler beef industry through a combination of genetics and top-class management.

Wilson said: “The future of suckler farming is reliant on a combination of targeted action-focused support schemes and the on-farm production of a top-quality traceable and sustainable product.

“If we get these two things working together, I feel there is a viable future in suckler farming.”