Today, March 6th, ICBF has announced taking an important step to improve the visibility of genetic information on mart boards. From today, the Commercial Beef Value (CBV) will be shown for all genotyped animals with a verified sire, regardless of whether the seller is a HerdPlus member.
Currently, the display of CBV values is restricted to animals being sold from HerdPlus herds. This new enhancement ensures that valuable genetic data generated through the National Genotyping Programme (NGP) and SCEP can be used by as many herds as possible. This will help deliver greater value from the industry’s investment in genotyping.
Commenting on the development, ICBF Chairman, Michael Doran noted:
“This change further unlocks the potential of the data generated through genotyping. By removing barriers, we ensure farmers and buyers can make better decisions that drive profitability and sustainability across the beef and Dairy sectors.”
Adding to this, Sean Leahy, Manager of Corrin Mart, Fermoy, commented:
“Just last week, 65% of the calves going through Corrin Mart had their CBV displayed. It’s definitely positive. Anything that encourages better breeding, better genetics and ultimately better profitability overall has to be a positive.”
What is CBV?
CBV is a genetic value that predicts the profitability of finishing animals. It incorporates traits of economic importance to ‘drystock’ herds such as carcass weight, age at finish and feed intake. It helps buyers select animals that deliver better margins and performance.
Key Points:
- For example: In 2025, under this new policy, CBV would have appeared on mart boards for approximately 385,000 animals (a 34% increase) on what was displayed.
- CBV is a relatively new tool that is highly effective in identifying the most profitable animals for finishing.
- The wider industry has invested heavily in the NGP and SCEP, and with genotyping numbers rising. The number of young stock (Under one year) genotyped in 2024 was 900K and 1 million in 2025. It is expected that over 1 million young animals will be genotyped in 2026, highlighting that the availability of CBV data will continue to grow as the number of genotyped animals continues to grow.
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