Last week the Irish Farmers Journal outlined the biggest movers and shakers on replacement index due to the new ICBF evaluations coming out last month. This week, we look at the best performers on the terminal index.

Again we see one break away Charolais bull, rising by €50 but, as stated last week, this can be attributed to the inclusion of Economic Breeding Values (EBVs) from the UK being included in the evaluation run for the first time. The bull in question is Thrunton Fairfax, and the increase now lands the bull in joint top position with a terminal index of €187. Joining him at the top is the new entrant, Knockmoyle10 Loki ET. Overall, six of the top 10 placings were secured by Charolais bulls while three Belgian Blue and one Limousin make up the rest.

Looking at how the AI centres performed, all four main ones experienced a drop in their average terminal index. Three of the four also saw nearly half of all their active bulls drop since the January evaluation.

Still much talk remains around the fluctuation to stars so breeders are advised to not base their sire selection totally on genetic evaluations. Pedigree and phenotype should also be given much consideration before selecting a service sire.

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Top performers on replacement index in May 2018