There are currently over 200 cattle being progeny tested in Tully. The 209 commercial cattle being progeny tested in Tully consist of:
| Contemporary Group | No. of animals |
| Suckler bred heifers | 21 |
| Suckler bred steers | 81 |
| Dairy beef heifers | 50 |
| Suckler bred bulls | 57 |
Progeny testing allows for increased accuracy in genetic evaluations.
Our aim is to collect information on commercial progeny from AI sires.
Where do ICBF purchase the cattle?
We use the ICBF Database. We select progeny from Gene Ireland AI sires. The Sire & Maternal grandsire must be recorded. Selection process includes age & gender specifications (bulls, steers and heifers). An ICBF weighing technician will visit the farm and weigh the animals that will to be purchased. We require 15 progeny per Ai sire.
What happens when ICBF purchase the cattle?
We collect the cattle from the farmers yard and deliver them to Tully. All cattle undergo a 30-day acclimatization period. This allows the animals to adjust to their new environment. It allows us to carry out the health program. The health program consists of vaccinating for IBR, BVD, RSV, PI3, Blackleg & other clostridia diseases and treating cattle for internal and external parasites.
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What is the diet?
The diet for the under 16-month bulls is ad-lib concentrates with hay. The diet for the steers and heifers is 8- 10kg concentrates and 5 kg hay fresh weight.
Facilities in Tully
All cattle are penned in groups of five and they are bedded on a mixture of peat and sawdust. The feeding systems consist of an American Calan gate feeding system for the Under 16-month-old bulls and a Dutch Insentec feeding system for the steers and heifers.
What data is recorded on the cattle?
Performance data is recorded over the 90-day finishing period.
- Average daily gain (Kg/day).
- Feed conversion efficiency (DMI/ADG).
- All cattle are linear scored for functionality etc.
- Scanned muscle and fat depth and intramuscular fat (mm).
- Health & disease traits.
- Recording lameness, genetic defects, pneumonia and other illnesses.
- Genomics – All cattle are genotyped (Verify the sire and dam).
- Methane emissions.
- Carcass & meat-eating quality.
- Carcass grades, primal yields, colour, pH, composition & sensory analysis.
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21 Suckler bred heifers
| SIRES | Number of Progeny |
| GGM | 1 |
| GZJ | 1 |
| PDR | 1 |
| PI2157 | 1 |
| S579 | 1 |
| SI2362 | 1 |
| CH2154 | 2 |
| CH2159 | 2 |
| LM2151 | 2 |
| SH2181 | 2 |
| AU2155 | 3 |
| AA2163 | 4 |
81 Suckler bred steers
| SIRES | Number of Progeny |
| CH2159 | 1 |
| LM2150 | 1 |
| SA2153 | 1 |
| YCM | 1 |
| AHC | 2 |
| ETP | 2 |
| LM2116 | 2 |
| XGL | 2 |
| ZBZ | 2 |
| HE2148 | 3 |
| LM2014 | 3 |
| LM2117 | 3 |
| SI2158 | 3 |
| AU2155 | 5 |
| PPA | 6 |
| SI2469 | 6 |
| ZCH | 8 |
| SI2152 | 9 |
| KJG | 10 |
| LM2151 | 11 |
50 dairy beef heifers
| SIRES | Number of Progeny |
| AA2123 | 3 |
| AA2192 | 3 |
| AA2203 | 3 |
| AA2309 | 3 |
| AA2387 | 4 |
| AA4057 | 5 |
| EMS | 2 |
| HE2147 | 3 |
| HE2463 | 3 |
| HE4045 | 3 |
| KZP | 3 |
| LM2117 | 4 |
| LM2265 | 3 |
| OBF | 2 |
| SH2181 | 3 |
| ZLT | 3 |
57 under-16-month old bulls
| SIRES | Number of Progeny |
| AA2163 | 1 |
| CH2159 | 1 |
| EMS | 1 |
| KJB | 1 |
| LM2395 | 1 |
| OEO | 1 |
| PT2356 | 1 |
| S578 | 1 |
| SA2366 | 1 |
| SH2181 | 1 |
| CH2154 | 2 |
| CH4068 | 2 |
| LM2014 | 2 |
| SA2153 | 3 |
| AHC | 4 |
| SI2152 | 4 |
| SI2362 | 4 |
| PDR | 5 |
| KZH | 9 |
| SI2469 | 12 |