ICBF has recently published the May 2018 beef evaluations. This has seen the Euro-Star indexes for all suckler cows, heifers, stock bull and AI bulls updated. The Animal Search, Active Bull Lists, Stock Bull Finder, sales catalogues and all online profiles have now been updated with the new evaluation figures.
Top 10
The Top 10 bulls on the replacement index active bull list include 4 Salers, 2 Simmental, 2 Limousin, 1 Angus and 1 Belgian Blue. The top bull on the Replacement Index Active Bull List is Salers bull Beguin (SA4059) with a Replacement Index of €259.
The top 10 on the Terminal list is made up of 6 Charolais and 4 Belgian Blue. The top bull on the Terminal Index Active Bull List is Charolais bull Thrunton Fairfax (CH4035) with a Terminal index of €187.
Replacement Index
Salers bull Beguin (SA4059) again tops the Replacement list with an index of €259 (5 star). Beguin has increased by €7, meaning he remains the number one Replacement Index sire. Beguin is also a 5 star Terminal bull with a Terminal index of €150. The second highest bull on the Replacement list is Ulsan (SA2189) with a Replacement index of €210. Ulsan has increased by €7 since the last evaluation.
The highest ranked Limousin on the Replacement active bull list is Castleview Gazelle (ZAG) who also ranks fifth overall with a Replacement index of €182. ZAG also performs well terminally with a Terminal Index of €120. Gazelle’s replacement index has decreased by €9 since the previous evaluation. Gazelle has added a lot of progeny records to this evaluation with a further 6,800 calving difficulty records, 3,200 gestation records, 400 weaning weights and 700 carcass records being added to name just a few. These can be viewed in the Evaluation History tab.
| Top 5 Biggest Risers (Replacement) | |||
| AI Code | Breed | Replacement Index Change | Comment |
| MNL | CH | +€161 | UK data included for 1st time. Very few Irish records previously available on this bull |
| S2264 | CH | +€138 | UK data included for 1st time. Very few Irish records previously available on this bull |
| S1126 | CH | +€128 | UK data included for 1st time. Very few Irish records previously available on this bull |
| S3108 | SH | +€121 | First time inclusion of foreign data, 32 UK progeny, only 1 domestic progeny. On upper end of scale for milk in UK |
| S2241 | CH | +€96 | Sire to S956 Blelack Digger who has seen an increase. UK data included for 1st time. Very few Irish records previously available on this bull |
| Top 5 Biggest Fallers (Replacement) | |||
| AI Code | Breed | Replacement Index Change | Comment |
| S867 | CH | -€128.39 | UK data included for the 1st time – low reliability, very high calving figure now which is in line with UK evaluation |
| S1354 | CH | -€109.47 | UK data included for 1st time. Carcass weight, conformation and fat PTA have fallen. Feed intake has disimproved. Calving Interval has increased. Calving difficulty increased from 10.1 to 19. Gestation length has increased and mortality. Maternal CD increased from 4.92 to 6.87 |
| THH | CH | -€92.15 | UK data included for the 1st time. Increase in Calving from 10.1% to 15.9%. Disimprovements on all carcass traits and milk. |
| MSJ | CH | -€69.12 | UK data included for 1st time. Carcass weight PTA dropped by 12kg. Drop in Cull cow weight PTA. Major fall in Milk PTA. Calving difficulty has increased. |
| S1374 | CH | -€62.43 | UK data included for 1st time. Drop in all carcass traits. Increase in Cow live weight PTA. Drop in Milk PTA (~-5kg). Large increase in calving difficulty. Increase in AFC |
Commercial farmers will be interested to note that the Replacement Index Euro-Star ‘cut-offs’ have increased by €3 for both 4 and 5 stars to €80 and €99 respectively. These breed percentiles are a reflection of the current population of beef animals and this upward trend is likely to continue into the future as more high Replacement Index animals are born.
