The EBIs of the top 10 bulls on the March 2020 active bull list have dropped by an average of €63 in the October evaluation.

Kileacle Pivotal remains the bull with the highest EBI on the list at €310, but he is down from €371 in March.

All of the AI companies have seen the EBIs of their top-selling bulls drop.

Looking at the 2020 sire catalogues, which are based on the January evaluation, the high-EBI team of bulls at Munster Bovine has dropped from an EBI of €305 to €259, a drop of €46.

The high-EBI team in Progressive Genetics has dropped from €341 to €276, a drop of €65.

The EBI of 2020-born bull calves purchased by AI companies has also fallen, many of whom have an EBI now of less than €300 and so will not go forward for AI.

The change in the October evaluation is that ICBF has put a cap on the level of genomics that can be used when evaluating an animal.

The ICBF issued letters to all dairy farmers last week in which it said the average change in EBI for young bulls on the active bull list would be €20 to €30.