The Department of Finance has approved a budget of over £57m for the new livestock genetics programme for NI.Stormont’s agriculture committee was told last week that a capital budget of £55.6m and a resource spend of £1.6m has been approved for the first 10 years of the project.
The Department of Finance has approved a budget of over £57m for the new livestock genetics programme for NI.
Stormont’s agriculture committee was told last week that a capital budget of £55.6m and a resource spend of £1.6m has been approved for the first 10 years of the project.
Preferred provider
“A procurement exercise has established a preferred service provider and award of contract is expected during October 2024,” said committee chair Robbie Butler.
Reading a briefing from DAERA, the Ulster Unionist MLA said the service provider will deliver the database, genomic evaluations and benchmarking service for the scheme.
Breeding data
The programme will be focused on driving genetic improvement in the beef and dairy sectors by giving farmers access to data for better informed breeding decisions.
“The aim of the project is to deliver improvements in both the environmental performance and productivity of animals in the bovine livestock sector,” Butler said.
Although government funding has been put forward for the scheme, the initiative will be run by an industry-led body known as Sustainable Ruminant Genetics.
Participation in the new genetics programme will be a requirement for cattle farmers to claim future support in NI, including the new area-based Farm Sustainability Payment.
One of the biggest changes for local farmers will be the roll-out of DNA testing of all cattle in NI. The initial cost of this process, known as genotyping, is to be covered by government funding.
Cost
However, after the first year of testing, which has been initially planned for 2026, the cost of genotyping of newborn calves is likely to fall on farmers.
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