It is understood that discussions are ongoing between senior representatives of the agri food industry in NI and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) about the possibility that NI farmers would be able to access and use information provided by the ICBF database.

The NI industry has been here before, and meetings and discussions were had during the tenure of the now defunct Agri-Food Strategy Board (AFSB). During that period, a livestock genetics sub-group of the AFSB tasked consultants Abacus Bio to look at various options.

In its report published in 2015, it recommended that NI build its own database of livestock genetic information.

However, with ICBF established since 2000, and driving forward genetic gain in dairy, beef and sheep, logic suggests that NI would tap into that resource.

The sticking point continues to be finances, and how much it will cost to buy into ICBF, what the ongoing cost will be and, crucially, who pays.

Conversation

Speaking at the Ulster Grassland Society (UGS) annual conference this week, ICBF technical director Dr Andrew Cromie confirmed that conversations have occurred in the past, and there have also been more recent discussions.

“We have had conversations about the short-term services we could provide. An all-island database potentially might be something that could happen in the future,” he said.

At present, ICBF has an operating budget of €7m, employing 70 staff and providing a service to 100,000 farmers. Half of its income comes from a levy on tags plus Irish government funding. The other half comes from services it provides to farmers.

Cromie outlined the genetic gains that have been made. By focusing on breeding for fertility and milk solids, the improved genetic potential of the Irish dairy herd is worth 4c/l to dairy farmers.

Beef has been more challenging, but the focus is on breeding a more efficient cow that is lighter, but delivers a heavier calf at weaning. Since 2014, the number of calves per cow per year, and the calving interval, have both seen significant improvement.

The most recent development has been a dairy beef index to help identify bulls that will still be easy calving, and have a short gestation, but deliver extra weight and conformation at slaughter.

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