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Read more about the article Peter Hynes – “It has been our best breeding season yet”

Peter Hynes – “It has been our best breeding season yet”

It’s the time of year when planning is crucial on farm. Decisions we make now will have the greatest impact on farm performance for 2021. We had a super scanning result with only 7% of cows empty and 100% of heifers in calf, with 68% in calf to first service. 145 animals will calve in February 2021. It has been our best breeding season yet. Synchronising the heifers on fixed time AI really works for us and it also shows the in-calf rate for first lactation cows. I feel it just allows them time to recover after calving to prepare for the breeding season. (more…)

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Read more about the article Breeding for low heritability traits can achieve real results

Breeding for low heritability traits can achieve real results

A common misconception is that breeding should not be pursued as a method for improving health or fertility traits due to their low heritability. Low heritability does not mean the trait cannot be improved. Low heritability simply signifies that much more records are required to achieve the same rate of genetic gain as high heritability trait (e.g., carcass weight or milk yield). (more…)

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Read more about the article What is EBI?

What is EBI?

EBI is a single figure profit index aimed at helping farmers identify the most profitable bulls and cows for breeding dairy herd replacements. It comprises of information on eight sub-indexes related to profitable milk production. These are; (1) Milk Production, (2) Fertility, (3) Calving Performance, (4) Beef Carcass (5) Carbon, Cow Maintenance (6) Health, (7) Maintenance and (8) Management. A summary of the sub-indexes, including traits and relative weightings for traits in the EBI is displayed in Chart 1, e.g. Fertility has a 25% weighting in the EBI. Economic values in the index are based on data collected from Irish Dairy Farms and the Dairy Industry. These values were last updated in November 2022.

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