More marts are now displaying Euro-Star and EBI data on sales days, through the use of new mart boards.
There are currently 70 marts throughout the country using these boards to display real-time information on the animals being offered for sale.
The ICBF has said that this allows farmers – ringside in marts – to view the ICBF Euro-Star ratings for beef breeding stock and EBI figures for dairy stock.
However, it added, the installation of these mart boards is still an on-going process and more marts are poised to display the data in the future.
- Reside in a herd that is currently taking part in the Beef, Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) or a herd that is currently subscribed to ICBF’s ‘HerdPlus’ information service.
- Have an index that is above average for EBI or, for beef animals, they must be either four or five-star rated on either a ‘within’ or ‘across’ breed basis.
Of the herds currently in the BDGP/HerdPlus member herds, it added, 54% of these animals are currently being displayed on the mart boards.
While this is a positive development, only 9% of all animals in the ring are being displayed.
With the re-opening of the BDGP scheme and more and more herds signing up to HerdPlus, the breeding federation expects the number of animals ‘displayed’ to increase at a steady pace in the future. Click here to see which marts are using the boards