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Ireland’s progeny testing programme which is carried out by ICBF at Tully, Co. Kildare recently slaughtered 50 Dairy Beef Heifers at Slaney Foods International, Bunclody, Co. Wexford. The progeny were sired by 16 different sires across 4 different breeds Angus, Hereford, Shorthorn and Limousin.The ICBF G€N€ IR€LAND Dairy Beef program is operated in conjunction with Teagasc, ABP and our partner AI companies.

The group consisted of 50 February & March 2017 born heifers. The average carcass weight for the group was 301 kilos. The average daily gain for the group during their 59-day performance test period was 1.68 kilos per head per day. Average growth rate within the group ranged from 1.14 kilos to 2.34 kilos per head per day. The average initial liveweight for group was 492 kilos and the final liveweight was 590 kilos. The average kill-out for the group was 51%, with kill-out ranging from 47% to 54%. Overall the animals graded extremely well with 4 of the heifers grading U’s, 30 of the heifers being of R grade conformation and 16 grading in the O grade class. The average dry matter intake (DMI) per day for the group was 12.2 kilos, with heifers consuming from 9.7 to 15.1 kilos per head per day on a DMI basis. The average feed efficiency for the group was 7.38, ranging from 5.1 to 10.5. The 50 heifers were scanned for Pre-Slaughter Muscular Depth (mm), Pre-Slaughter Fat Depth (mm) and Pre-Slaughter Intramuscular Fat.

The 50 heifers were fed a TMR consisting of hay, water and meal over their 59-day finishing period.  Overall the heifers performed exceptionally well for their age and were gaining .86 kilos of carcass for each day they were on test at Tully. The data demonstrates the large variation in performance between dairy beef progeny in a finishing system.

Please see link below to data on 50 heifers

https://www.icbf.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Intake-45-heifers.xlsx

Key points

Age of Heifers 19 – 21 months old
Number of Heifers 50
Number of Breeds 4
Number of Sires 16
Average DMI 12.2
Highest ADG 2.34
Avg. Carcase weight 301
Highest Kill out % 54.5%

Breeds and Sires

Breed Sire No. Progeny on Test
AA AA2123 3
AA AA2192 3
AA AA2203 3
AA AA2309 3
AA AA2387 4
AA AA4057 5
AA OBF 2
AA ZLT 3
HE HE2147 3
HE HE2463 3
HE HE4045 3
HE KZP 3
LM LM2117 4
LM LM2265 3
SH EMS 2
SH SH2181 3