The commercial beef value (CBV) will be displayed on all mart boards in the country for all genotyped animals with a verified sire, regardless of whether the seller is a HerdPlus member, the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) has announced.

Before this announcement, CBV values were only displayed in marts for animals being sold from a HerdPlus herd.

ICBF is hoping this new enhancement means that valuable genetic data generated through the National Genotyping Programme (NGP) and Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) can be used by as many herds as possible and that greater value will be delivered from the industry’s investment in genotyping.

ADVERTISEMENT

Commenting on the development, ICBF chair, Michael Doran said: “This change further unlocks the potential of the data generated through genotyping. By removing barriers, we ensure farmers and buyers can make better decisions that drive profitability and sustainability across the beef and dairy sectors.”

In addition, Seán Leahy, manager of Corrin Mart, Fermoy, stated: “Just last week, 65% of the calves going through Corrin Mart had their CBV displayed. It’s definitely positive. Anything that encourages better breeding, better genetics and ultimately better profitability overall has to be a positive.”

What is CBV?

CBV is a genetic value that predicts the profitability of finishing animals. It incorporates traits of economic importance to ‘drystock’ herds such as carcass weight, age at finish and feed intake. It helps buyers select animals that deliver better margins and performance,” the ICBF said.

“For example, in 2025, under this new policy, CBV would have appeared on mart boards for approximately 385,000 animals (a 34% increase) on what was displayed.”

With high industry investment in the NGP and SCEP and rising genotyping numbers, ICBF stated: “The number of young stock genotyped in 2024 was 900,000 and one million in 2025. It is expected that over one million young animals will be genotyped in 2026, highlighting that the availability of CBV data will continue to grow as the number of genotyped animals continues to grow.”