The pedigree breed societies have a lot to answer for in terms of holding back accelerated genetic gain in the beef industry, Teagasc geneticist Professor Donagh Berry said last week.

Speaking at the Irish Grassland Association beef conference, Prof Berry said: “We need accurate data recording on young bulls to increase the reliability and at the moment we are not getting this. Pedigree breeders are not recording enough data on their animals and it’s holding the industry back.

“Where are we going with a breeding programme where 5% of pedigree farmers weigh their animals and input it into the database.

“Sixty per cent of dairy farmers milk record and we are seeing massive genetic gains from it.

“How many pedigree breeders are culling cows due to poor weight gain in calves?” he asked.

When questioned as to whether the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) was brought in too early, he said absolutely not.

“Look around you – more people are talking now about breeding and indexes than ever before. It’s been a successful disruptive technology.

“If breed societies are giving out about it, I see this as a positive. We had the same issues on the dairy side and we still made progress,” he said.