DEAR EDITOR,

With the changes to the ICBF figures, I believe going forward it’s going to be harder to keep continental cows with four and five stars on the replacement index, due to cull liveweight value. I believe these two are at odds with one another. Also, in relation to the carbon element of the index, it’s unknown how much it will affect values in the future.

The days-to-slaughter figures don’t match up with carcase weight, as we have high carcase weight bulls with low days to slaughter and low carcase weight bulls with good days-to-slaughter – with the Aberdeen Angus bull Kealkil Prime Lad being one example.

Docility still isn’t getting enough attention. ICBF will say average lifetime production is 3.5 calves, with poor fertility blamed, but I would argue aggressive, wild cows would cause a cow to be culled after one or two calvings.