The ICBF animal search facility has had over 2.9 million individual hits for the year to date. This is an impressive statistic and shows just how much dairy and beef farmers, including people from the breeding industry value the animal search.The ICBF animal search gives users up to date genetic and progeny performance information on AI bulls, stock bulls and as of this year females located in a BDGP or HerdPlus herd.
Table 1
Breakdown of usage of ICBF Animal Search facility (for 2016 year to date).
As can be seen from table 1 the total number of searches carried out on the ICBF animal search in 2016 was over 2.9 million. This is an increase of over 800,000 hits verses 2015 figures. This increase can be largely attributed to the ‘Bull Search’ becoming the ‘ICBF Animal Search’ earlier this year. This now means that users can search for males but can also now search for females (in BDGP or HerdPlus herd). There has been over 445,000 female searches carried out in 2016 since the introduction of the ICBF animal search 6 months ago.
Table 2
Detailed breakdown of usage of ICBF Animal Search facility (Males only for year to date).
Information from table 2 shows us that Beef sire searches year to date are just under 1.5 million. 2016 has seen an increase in beef sire searches of over 170,000 hits compared to 2015. This is most likely due to the continuation of the BDGP (Beef, Data and Genomics Programme). From the data in table 2 we can see the positive benefits that the BDGP is having on the industry. With beef sire searches at an all time high for both AI and stockbulls, this shows us that users are showing more interest in genetic indexes and with the increased profitability that comes from higher index animals (4 and 5 star), these increases are really encouraging for the industry.
Data from table 2 indicates that there hasn’t been any real change in the number of Dairy bulls searched in 2016 vs 2015. However there has still been over 725,000 dairy searches carried out year to date. This high level of interest in the animal search facility confirms the confidence that users have in Dairy EBI (Economic Breeding Index) and Beef Eurostar as a means to accurately rank AI and stock bulls. The animal search facility displays animal data including identification, ancestry, genetic and performance data. This facility allows anyone to check all available details on any given pedigree registered bull and as of this year females located in a BDGP or HerdPlus herd.
High Level of Interest in Stock Bulls
As can be seen from Table 1, the number of stock bulls searched is very high. Stock bull searches made up 40% of total male searches in the animal search facility. This is an extremely high number considering the animal search was initially designed to support the querying of data on AI bulls.
As a result animal search users can make a more informed choice when it comes to selecting a stock bull for breeding. The animal search gives a full breakdown of each bull’s breeding potential including index, reliability, progeny and ancestry performance information as well as a host of other useful information for selecting a stock bull.
ICBF Animal Search App
The ICBF animal search app is now available to download free on Apple and Android devices. The ICBF animal search has been downloaded 967 times since becoming available just 2 months ago. This app allows the user to search for EBI and €uro-Star figures on the animals in the ICBF Database. The HerdPlus Animal Search app allows users to search the genetic index figures (EBI and €uro-Star)on animals in the ICBF database. Animals must be located in herds signed up to the HerdPlus service or be participating in the Beef Data and Genomics Programme. This app helps herd-owners make more informed decisions when buying or selling animals as well as when breeding. It also contains the Active AI bulls in order of genetic index.
Top 10 Most Searched Sires 2016
Tables 3 and 4 below indicate the top 10 bulls for beef and dairy searched in 2016.
Table 3
| Top 10 Most Searched Beef Sires 2016 | |||
| RANK | BULL | BULL NAME | COUNT |
| 1 | ZAG | CASTLEVIEW GAZELLE | 13980 |
| 2 | FSZ | FISTON | 9007 |
| 3 | KJB | BROOKLANDS F0959 | 7597 |
| 4 | EBY | ELDERBERRY GALAHAD | 7075 |
| 5 | ONI | ON-DIT | 5756 |
| 6 | LZF | CAVELANDS FENIAN | 5749 |
| 7 | ZLL | LANIGAN RED DEEP CANYON ET | 5541 |
| 8 | APZ | CURAHEEN APOSTLE ET | 5454 |
| 9 | WGE | WILODGE CERBERUS | 5187 |
| 10 | CF52 | DOONALLY NEW | 5117 |
Table 4
| Top 10 Most Searched Dairy Sires 2016 | |||||
| RANK | BULL | BULL NAME | COUNT | ||
| 1 | LWR | (IG) LONGVIEW RELIABLE | 5826 | ||
| 2 | WLY | IMLEACH LUCKY WHISTLER | 5589 | ||
| 3 | SEW | SEAROAD AWS PAMELA 1 | 4528 | ||
| 4 | GZY | GADDAGH CUDDY REEKS | 4237 | ||
| 5 | PBM | (IG) BALLINABORTA PRIMO | 3601 | ||
| 6 | HZB | (IG) BALLYDEHOB PAT 1356 | 3482 | ||
| 7 | YAB | (IG) BARTLEMY ANDREW | 3012 | ||
| 8 | FR2238 | KILLAVALLA CHANCE | 2992 | ||
| 9 | YAD | (IG) DIAMOND ANDY | 2982 | ||
| 10 | PSQ | PRIESTS SOLARIS-ET | 2955 | ||
The animal search facility is located on the bottom right of the front page or you can search any bull now by clicking here.