Since the last genetic evaluation in May, we have reviewed the Beef Eurostar report and made an improvement to the Breeding Males Section of the report. This is following feedback from suckler farmers at different events over the past number of months.
The calving difficulty sub-index and reliability are now included in the Breeding Males Section in the Eurostar report for both beef and dairy mating. This will allow breeders to have more information at hand when selling bulls from the yard and provide greater confidence for buyers. The beef and dairy calving difficulties will be available for both beef and dairy matings to promote high carcass merit beef sires for the dairy herd as well as the suckler herd.
Understanding the calving difficulty of beef sires is critical for both dairy and beef farmers as it can increase the overall welfare of Irish cows and calves, reduce labour at the busiest time of the year and increase profits. However, not understanding the calving difficulty sub-index and the reliability of the sub-index can prove costly to many farmers, with the risk of difficult calvings, increased vets bills, and reduced productivity over the lifetime of a cow.
Figure 1: A snapshot of the updated Euro-Star Report including the additional calving difficulty information.
The next genetic evaluation is due to be published after 3pm on Tuesday 2nd August. Please call the HerdPlus office on 023-8820452 with any queries or email [email protected]