There is an old management adage that states “You can’t manage what you don’t measure”. Without measurement, you don’t know if you’re getting better or worse and without knowing this, you can’t manage for improvement!  This statement is also true when it comes to milk recording. Continue reading →

The Gene Ireland Programme are delighted to announce that three additional bulls are now available to pedigree herds through the GI Graduate proven bull panel, this brings the total number of proven bulls available through the programme to five. Continue reading →

On-farm recorded data is a vital element of the Irish genetic evaluation process and the creation of the Euro-Star and EBI indexes. Every herd owner in Ireland can act as a data collector for ICBF and in doing so contribute vital information to the database. Continue reading →

Since the inception of the Gene Ireland programme a total of 216 beef bulls have been involved. In 2012 the focus moved to selecting bulls with even stronger maternal traits, in response to a decline in milk and fertility in the Irish Suckler herd. Continue reading →

Six of the current top ten Irish bred AI bulls on the ICBF Active Bull List were tested through the Gene Ireland Maternal Beef Programme (Table 1). This is testament to the effectiveness of the programme Continue reading →

Border Brave (BOA) was a Charolais bull that was born on the 15th of June 1986 . He was bred by B.O’Reilly, Tierworker, Kells, Co.Meath and his semen was marketed by Munster AI. Continue reading →