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DEAR SIR
Looking at Adam Wood’s article headlined “Is BDGP working” (1 June), I think it is past time that people scrutinise the data being presented by the ICBF. Even in the first table presented, the non-BDGP herds have the exact same replacement index in 2014 as the BDGP herds, even though they have 10 days longer of a calving interval, 5% fewer calves/cow/year and 2% fewer heifers calving at 22 months. This typifies the disconnect between replacement values and actual performance of animals.
I think it is dishonest that the ICBF is using 2014 as the reference year for the BDGP scheme. The suckler herd performance in 2014 was the worst in a decade due to the negative impact of the 2013 fodder shortage.
The calving interval for the HerdPlus herds increased by 17 days in 2014 and the ICBF wants to claim the improvement from that low level as genetic gain; instead they should explain why we are so far behind 2012 and 2013.
It is also weak to suggest that the Replacement Index increasing in BDGP herds is a sign of progress; it is a condition of the scheme that those herds must have more four-star cows as the scheme progresses.
The removal of the first-cross dairy cows from the analysis was a cynical move. You can’t just ignore that the scheme has been promoting these cows into the suckler herd by giving them inflated values.
The fact that it has been suggested that future schemes should exclude these cows implies that they should not have been receiving such high replacement figures.
This indicates that the Replacement Index model is flawed and should have been corrected long before now. If the index is wrongly promoting these cows, then it is also promoting these type of cattle in other breeds. This has contributed to the negative trend in carcase weight and conformation from the suckler herd which has been in decline since 2015.
The BEEP scheme is going to compound this issue. The efficiency of a cow is not what portion of its own weight it can wean, but rather how close it can get its offspring to slaughter weight. Dairy crosses produce good relative weanling weights but their oversupply of milk masks poor terminal qualities, which leads to higher finishing costs and longer finishing periods.
There is a feed cost associated with producing milk and you could argue that cows that produce milk that is wasted are less efficient than beef cows with lower milk yields.
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