Irish Cattle
Breeding Federation

What are the Objectives of the G€N€ IR€LAND® Dairy Programme?

The OBJECTIVE of the programme is to test 100 bulls each year, each with 100 daughters, with these bulls being selected from the top 1% of cows on EBI.

G€N€ IR€LAND® is focused on 3 key areas:

1. Selection of High EBI Young Bulls.

2. Progeny Testing the Young Bulls on a “Targeted” Set of Herds.

• Test Bulls and Semen Allocation
• Breeds
• Test Group Allocation
• Cost of Straws
• Benefits to the farmer
• Requirements of a progeny testing herd

3. Elite Bulls are Returned to AI.

1. Selection of High EBI Young Bulls.

For a bull to be considered for the G€N€ IR€LAND® programme the potential bull mother must meet the following criteria:

• High EBI (greater than €120),
• Three generations of recorded ancestry,
• Good Functional Type.

The key is to ensure the selection of these young bulls provides a good range of genetics, from a wide range of high EBI sires.

2008 was the first time that contract matings were implemented. NCBC in conjunction with Teagasc, Moorepark and the ICBF developed a new mating system, with the aim of identifying elite, high EBI Irish cows of unique pedigree, with proven performance for fertility and milk solids production and mating these cows to high EBI AI sires. The new procedure, developed by scientists at Moorepark, is designed to deliver the optimal panel of young bulls for Ireland while accounting for the growing concerns of inbreeding.

Test bulls put forward from Spring 2009 will also be genomically selected

While a majority of the bulls that enter the G€N€ IR€LAND® programme are sourced in Ireland a small number are also imported from overseas.

2. Progeny Testing the Young Bulls on a “Targeted” Set of Herds.

To progeny test 100 young bulls, 70,000 doses of semen are required to be used across a small number of ‘targeted’ herds, with the aim to obtain 100 milk-recorded heifers. Progeny testing bulls on a select group of targeted herds has the desired effect of;

• increasing the reliability of the bull’s proof, and
• allowing more entitlements to be given to participating herd-owners.

 

TEST BULLS AND SEMEN ALLOCATION

Breeds

There are a number of breed pack options available. For the spring this will generally consist of:

• Holstein/Friesain (HO/FR),
• Pure Friesian (FR),
• Crossbred pack (combination of HO/FR, JE & HO/FRxJE),
• Mixed breed pack (combination of any of the dairy breeds, but with a red breed focus).

Availability and context of these packs is dependent on the bulls put forward by the participating AI companies.

The autumn programme consists primarily of Holstein/Friesian.

 

Test Group Allocations

Herd-owners do NOT get a choice of individual test bulls. The allocation of bulls per pack are chosen at random, but will represent a range of sires and have an average EBI as close to the overall group as possible (i.e. for Spring 2010 €170).

Test straws are available in packs of 35 straws (5 bulls x 7 straws), then multiples of 7 straws/bull (i.e. 49, 70, 105 doses). A reduced pack of 25 straws (5 bulls x 5 straws) is also available to herds that are signed up to a Teagasc discussion group.

There is no particular requirement on how these straws are used. This is up to the discretion of the herd-owner but all straws must be used in the assigned season.

 

Costs of Straws

There is a cost of €6.50 per straw, which will be charged directly by the organisation providing the AI service.

Note that herd-owners that use the technician service will still incur the cost of the ‘arm service’ and visit fee. 

BENEFITS TO THE FARMER

There are a number of benefits associated with using test bulls from the G€N€ IR€LAND® programme.

The most important one is the use of top genetic bulls that have been Genomic Selected and are available at a discounted rate. The introduction of Genomic Selection means the new G€N€ IR€LAND® program can increase genetic gain by 48% (€20 to €30/cow/year), and at a cost of €5 per straw, this is a fantastic deal.

Using young test bulls as part of this programme also means you've access to the latest genetics 1 year before the "young graduate" bulls are available and 4 years before "proven bulls".

Other benefits include:

• Free linear scoring of 50% of all progeny test heifers and a sample of contemporaries: (Herds for linear scoring will be selected by ICBF, with herds containing greater numbers of test bull daughters being targeted, so not all herds will be scored.)
• Candidate for FBD Trust Sponsership Awards.
• Potential Bull Mothers of the future.

 

REQUIREMENTS OF A PROGENY TESTING HERD

Participating herds need to meet certain conditions regarding test bull usage and data recording.

It is essential that these herd-owners:

• Use ALL their allocated G€N€ IR€LAND straws in the assigned AI season
• Full participantion in Animal Events i.e. record all inseminations and calving outcomes, including calving performance data, etc.
• Participation in approved milk recording - milk record their 2-year-olds approximately 4 times in their first lactation.

3. Elite Bulls are Returned to AI.

Whilst the previous programme has delivered some good bulls, e.g., MAU, RUU, GMI & LBO, the number of new top bulls each year is low. This is frustrating for farmers and has a negative impact on rate of genetic gain.

Through the efficient progeny testing of 100 young sires, new bulls will be appearing on the ICBF Active Bull list each year. Thus giving farmers more variety to choose from, while at the same time increasing the average EBI of the group, leading to increased genetic gain for farmers.  The top bulls graduating from the progeny test programme each year will win an FBD sponsored prize.