Cattle breed societies react to ICBF Euro-star changes

As pedigree cattle breeders digest the recent changes to the ICBF Euro-star evaluations released on Tuesday 23 September, it is fair to say there are mixed reactions.

As in all evaluations, there are winners and losers and, on this occasion, continental breeds have risen at the expense of some of the more traditional breeds.

Charolais, Belgian Blue and Simmental have all seen improvements in Replacement and Terminal, with the Hereford and Shorthorn losing out. Angus still hold a very strong position, making up over 50 of the top 100 bulls on the replacement list.

It is apparent there has been as much movement within breeds as across breeds, with some AI bulls moving considerably, especially on the replacement index. The increase in the base price for beef, the inclusion of SCEP and BEEP weight data and the new method of incorporating foreign data obviously having a major impact on individual cattle.

Breeder frustration

Operations manager with the Irish Limousin Cattle Society Brendan Curtin said: "While it is still too early to fully assess the impact on the pedigree Limousin population, it’s clear that some breeders are already feeling frustrated by the recent changes.

"Looking specifically at our cow population, we have seen a net loss of 85 cows with a combined four-star and five-star rating. The frustration among breeders and customers becomes more apparent when we examine the changes more closely. Approximately 378 cows were downgraded from five- to four-star, while 554 cows were downgraded from four- to three-star. However, 452 cows improved from four- to five-star, while 474 cows improved from three- to four-star.

"Looking at the Active AI bull list, the number of five-star Limousin bulls has dropped from 53 to 42, while the number of four-star Limousin bulls on the list has increased from 26 to 35, largely due to bulls being downgraded from five-star.

"Breeders rely on consistency and the ability to plan. Those affected by these negative changes, particularly breeders preparing bulls for the upcoming autumn sales, are being undermined by what appears to be an unpredictable and unstable system."

A spokesperson for the Irish Shorthorn Cattle Society said: "It is alarming that more than one third of pedigree Shorthorn cows have fallen in replacement star ratings across breed under the new evaluation, a development that threatens breeders' confidence.

It's becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with indexes, when the goalposts for breeding animals with stars keep shifting."

Replacement index

According to the Irish Simmental Cattle Society, some of the breed's most widely used AI bulls have dropped significantly on the replacement index, leaving some of its breeders frustrated. A spokesperson for the society said: "While the direction of travel for most young animals is positive and is seen as correcting some of the damage caused in November 2023, there is still more movement needed. We see the beef price used in the evaluation of €5.89\kg as prohibitive to identifying the most profitable animals. However, we acknowledge a commitment from ICBF to address this next year should the market forecasts predict a price higher than €5.89\kg.

"Feed efficiency is another area that has not been addressed in these changes. Dairy genetics still appear to have too large of an influence on the replacement index with a number of AI bulls targeted at the dairy market still coming to the top in the replacement list.

"We will obviously need more time to study the impact of these latest changes but there does appear to have been an alarming drop in index value of some widely used AI bulls which will have a major impact on individual breeders who focused firmly on breeding for high indexes".

Positive changes

On the flip side, the Irish Belgian Blue Cattle Society feels the changes are going in the right direction. Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, breed secretary Sean Sherman said: "The impact on the Belgian Blue breed is positive and reflects its superior carcase traits. In the top 100 bulls on the Terminal Active Bull list, the number of Belgian Blues has increased significantly from 13 to 26. With the lift in cull cow prices, the cost of calving difficulty has decreased, as her cull value offsets the replacement cost.

"Carcase price has increased in the model from €4.68 to €5.89 for prime beef and €3.90 to €5.15 for cull cows. While this may be lower than the actual beef price at the moment, the model is trying to predict where beef price will be in the future. Teagasc has committed to reviewing the beef price again in 2026 when new international forecasts on beef price become available.This has been communicated to our breed societies throughout the past number of months."

The Irish Farmers Journal understands the Pedigree Cattle Breeders Council are to meet with ICBF on Friday.