BDGP €uro-Star reports will be arriving on farms over the next number of weeks with the latest €uro-Star Indexes from the August evaluation run.

These reports are particularly significant for programme participants as they are the first to include genomic evaluations. Reports are now available online for all herds and will also be posted to all programme participants.

The report

This report will have the most up-to-date indexes for all animals. Some animals will have genomics included and others will not. The report has been updated to include a column which shows the animal’s genomic status. There are three possible statuses:

  • DNA Requested – DNA sample requested but not yet returned from farm.
  • DNA Returned – DNA sample returned from farm and is currently being processed.
  • Genomic Evaluation – Animal has genomics included in its €uro-Star Index.

Animals that do not have a status have not been selected for genotyping to date. These animals may be identified for genotyping in future. The majority of animals that have been sampled as part of the 2016 genotyping requirements will not have a genomic evaluation in the August run. Provided tissue samples were returned on time and there are no issues with the sample quality, these animals should have a genomic evaluation in the December run.

Farmers should pay particular notice to the first two pages of the report. The first page details the herd’s reference number as well as the 2018 and 2020 replacement female targets. Unless a herd changed its reference number, the replacement female targets on the first page will not have changed.

The number of stock bulls that meet the BDGP criteria is also listed at the bottom of this page. This number may change as bulls move in and out of a herd and/or a bull’s €uro-Star Index changes. The second page contains a table which gives a breakdown of a herd by star rating. Females in each herd are divided into three groups – Cows, heifers of one year and older, and heifers less than a year old. The animals are then divided out according to the number of stars which they have. Farmers should take note of the percentages of 4- or 5-star females relative to the herd’s reference number. These percentages are detailed in the far right column of this table.

The main body of the report is broken into three sections – commercial females, purebred females and breeding males. Farmers can analyse the index figures of individual animals here. Farmers have the option to generate new BDGP reports online. This facility is useful where a farmer wants to continually monitor the percentages of 4- or 5-star females as animals move in and out of a herd.