There are now over 725 herds signed-up to the Dairy Gene Ireland Programme taking a total of 31,444 straws to date. There are still Dairy Gene Ireland straws available to order.

Straws are available in packs of 35 (5 bulls x 7 straws) 49 (7 bulls x 7 straws) and 70 (7 bulls x 10 straws) and 100 (10 bulls x 7 straws), with packs made available up to a maximum of 35% of your dairy straw requirement. The cost is €12 per straw, plus technician fee, which varies by AI company. Packs are distributed to participating herds through your sales reps or AI technician.

Click Here to view the genetic indexes of the Breed packs. The Multi-breed pack is a combination of Jerseys, HF x JE crossbreds, and HF bulls for comparative purposes.

The dairy breeding programme is a key component of the Irish dairy industry with the aim of providing farmers with new genetics and increase the rate of genetic gain in EBI.

If you are interested in ordering a pack of straws, please complete one of the following 3 steps:

  • Sign-up online through the Gene Ireland Sign-Up screen by logging into your HerdPlus account and selecting ‘Services’ – ‘Gene Ireland Sign-up’.
  • Complete the enclosed Sign-up Form and return in the FREEPOST envelope provided. Alternatively, a scanned copy, can be emailed to [email protected]
  • Call the ICBF HerdPlus team on 023 8820452.