Mark Waters from the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) is on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to discuss the National Genotyping Programme which has recently opened for applications.

The National Genotyping Programme is a collaborative initiative enabling Ireland to take the first step in achieving a fully genotyped national herd, based on a cost-sharing model between the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine, the beef and dairy industry and participating farmers. 

Genotyping the national herd will provide a huge opportunity for both the dairy and beef industry to accelerate the rates of gain of our national breeding indexes (e.g. EBI, Eurostar & DBI), which will enhance farm sustainability & reduce carbon emissions.

Mark outlines a number of benefits including:

-       Labour-saving - farmers who sign up to the NGP will have exclusive access to Double Tissue Tags. By sampling animals at birth, farmers don’t have to wait for button tags or hair-cards for SCEP or Pedigree Societies and then round up and bring in animals for sampling at a later stage. It is also much safer and easier to tag and sample newborn animals than more mature animals

-       Cost - herds accepted into the National Genotyping Programme will genotype any remaining ungenotyped breeding stock FREE. From 2024 to 2027 (inclusive), farmers will be required to genotype ALL calves born at a reduced cost of approximately €6. (This is an estimate and includes the farmer’s contribution of €4 towards genotyping, plus the additional cost associated with a double tissue tag and postage cost.). Herds participating in SCEP will only incur the €6/calf cost of those calves not counted towards their annual 70% SCEP genotyping requirement

-       Parent verification - parentage errors (which currently sit at an average of 15% nationally) lead to incorrect Eurostar figures and create paperwork to correct once the animal is already registered. Genotyping at birth will confirm parentage & correct any errors before registration

-       Genomic Eurostar figures - animals sampled at birth will receive genomic evaluations at the earliest possible opportunity, thereby increasing the reliability of their Eurostar figures well before they are selected or sold for breeding and confirming their eligibility for SCEP

-       Commercial Beef Value (CBV) - genotyped weanlings and store cattle that are being traded through marts will have their CBV displayed on mart screens.

Further information is available at: 

https://www.icbf.com/national-genotyping-programme/

Or contact the ICBF on email: [email protected] or phone: 023-8820452

For more episodes from the Beef Edge podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/thebeefedge

 
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