Cattle Breeding in Ireland:

There are several organisations involved in cattle breeding in Ireland.  These include the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (DAFF), the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF), breed associations and AI (artificial insemination) organisations.  The ICBF was formally established in 2000 with the objective of maximising genetic gain for farmers, and the dairy and beef industries.  The four main functions of the organisation are to:

a)      hold and manage a central cattle breeding database

b)      carry out genetic evaluations

c)      develop breeding schemes based on these evaluations

d)     and relay this information to the breeding industry.

Cattle breeding data is recorded in two main databases which work in complete synchrony with each other.  The CMMS database (centralised movement and monitoring system), which records calf registration, movement and death, is managed by the DAFF.  For farms that participate in the ICBF schemes their data in the CMMS is also stored in the ICBF database.  In addition to this, the ICBF collects relevant data from cattle marts, meat factories, AI companies and farms into the database for evaluations.

Beef Breeding                                                                                   

Multi-trait selection indices (using BLUP – best linear un-biased predictions) are the foundation of the current indices in Ireland, namely the ICBF €urostar indices.

The ICBF use the data collected from Irish farms, meat factories, cattle marts and Tully (Irish national beef bull performance test centre) to generate €uro-Star indices for all breeding animals including AI sires, stock bulls and replacement males and females.  The €uro-Star indices were introduced in spring 2007 and indicate the genetic potential of an animal’s progeny to deliver extra profit compared to the progeny of an average animal.

The indices combine information from all of the traits influencing beef profit in a series of €uro values.  This type of presentation is easy to understand and can be used by breeders when making important breeding decisions.  In total, 16 traits are summarised into five indices, two groups and one overall index.

The five indices are:

Calving traits index – it puts a direct cost on losses at calving time. It includes direct and maternal calving difficulty, direct gestation length and direct calf mortality. All breeders regardless of their production system will be interested in this index.

Weaning export index – this index estimates how good a sire is at producing high-value weanlings for export.  It includes weaning weight and calf quality. Breeders producing calves with a view to exporting them to the higher-priced continental markets (e.g. Italy) will be most interested in this index when choosing their sires.

Beef carcass index – this index estimates how good a sire is at producing high-value carcasses.  It includes weight (weaning and carcass), intake, conformation and fatness.  Breeders producing cattle for slaughter should focus on this index when choosing their sires.

Milk & fertility index – this index focuses on the performance of daughters of a sire with true maternal traits taking account of calving interval, calving difficulty, age at first calving, maternal weaning weight and cow survival.

Calf value index- this index focuses on future revenue from the daughters of a sire.  Traits include calving difficulty, gestation length, calf mortality, weaning and carcass weights, intake and carcass conformation.

Dairy Breeding

First introduced in Feburary 2001, the EBI (Economic Breeding Index) is a single figure profit index that helps breeders to identify sires and dams that would be most profitable in their dairy herd. It is made up of five sub indices including 19 traits that are all related to profitable milk production.

The five indices are:

Production index- this index focuses on milk, fat and protein

Fertility index - this index focuses on calving interval and survival

Calving index - this index focuses on traits such as direct and maternal calving difficulty, gestation and calf mortality.

Beef index - this index focuses on cull cow, carcass weight, carcass conformation and carcass fat

Health index - this index focuses on lameness and udder health

Also indirectly included in the indices through calving interval and survival breeding values are foot angle, udder depth, angularity and body condition score.

Genomic Selection:

Throughout the animal breeding industry the new buzz phrase in ‘Genomic Selection’. This new method of selection applies to both the beef and dairy breeding. It involves using the DNA analysis of the animal’s genes to determine its genetic merit. While selection based on the EBI in the dairy industry and €uro-Stars in the beef industry using  records based on the animal and its relatives, some of the information cannot be collected until the animal reaches a certain stage in the production system. For example carcass trait records cannot be collected until the animal/animals relatives are slaughtered and therefore it takes a long time to identify the superior genetic merit. Genomic selection on the other hand is a much quicker as the DNA can be analysed much sooner in an animal’s life and therefore the rate of genetic improvement can be greatly increased.

 For more information see:

http://www.agresearch.teagasc.ie/grange/genomic_selection.asp

http://www.dovea.ie/Genomic_selection_to_increase_EBI_dairy_conferenceNOV08_SUBMIT.pdf