In recent years, there has been a recurring issue of buyers getting stung when purchasing calves which they thought were something else, with the No 1 problem being purchasing Jersey calves which are down as Angus.

This is largely down to the male Jersey crossbred calves showing an all-black coat, which can be easily mistaken for Angus calves. It wouldn’t be until later in life when the animal does not grow to the same size as an Angus that they can be identified as a Jersey crossbred.

Looking back over past calf registrations, we see that females account for 48.75% to 49.02% of the calf population nationally across all breeds.

However, within the Jersey breed, this has consistently been a lot higher. Over the three years, the percentage of heifers ranges from 58.12% to 58.63%, almost 10% higher than the national average. To put this in calf numbers, if it was 50% male and 50% female, there would be almost 6,000 extra Jersey bull calves over the three years.

While we can’t say for sure all these have been incorrectly registered as Angus, we have been made aware of some people who have been caught out.

There is one simple reason as to why this may be happening: increased calf prices on sale day. ICBF price data shows that last year Angus bull calves made on average €210. However, their Jersey comrades made only €35. It’s clear that the Angus bull calf makes substantially more. Depending on the year, it has been €162 to €183 more.

Effect on pedigree breeder

Incorrectly identifying animals will have a serious effect on the pedigree breeder in the long run. In this case, which is of particular relevance to the Angus breed, it stands as one of the biggest issues the breed is facing.

Commercial calf buyers who have been stung before are afraid to take the risk again and others who haven’t been caught out have heard stories of people who have. This constantly plays on the back of buyers’ minds, with some not willing to take the risk and instead look to calves sired by other breeds.

In time, this will have a serious effect on calf prices obtained for the breed. This all filters down to the pedigree breeder, who will be the first to feel the brunt of reduced sales, which will be matched with a reduced price. The less farmers are getting for the calves, the less they will be spending on the bull.

What can be done?

Societies need to lobby together to make sure random DNA testing can be undertaken at marts throughout the country.

Those which show inaccurate parentage need to have further animals in the herd followed up on to check whether the incorrect parentage was put in deliberately. Once rogue farmers incorrectly inputting data are penalised, it will set an example for the rest, which will hopefully lead to correct parentage being recorded in future years.