ICBF CEO Seán Coughlan said that there should be no delays to blue cards issuing as long as farmers post genotyping samples regularly.

This is despite some farmers saying they are waiting weeks on blue cards to arrive.

The average time from birth to sample being received in the labratory last week was 8.3 days, down two days from the previous week.

This, Coughlan said, indicates that farmers are posting samples more often.

The average time in the lab last week was 4.1 days, down from 4.6 days the previous week (4.5 is the target) while the average time from birth to blue card being issued last week was 14 days.

ICBF advises farmers to post genotype samples more than once per week at peak calving where farmers wish to minimise the time to receive calf passports in order to be able to sell calves faster.

As calving slows down, it may be sufficient for samples to be sent once per week. DNA samples should be posted to Weatherbys genotyping lab in the return envelopes provided by ICBF.