20 years on: How successful has the introduction of EBI been?

The economic breeding Index (EBI), launched in 2001, was developed as a way for Irish dairy farmers to determine the expected profitability per lactation of the progeny of an individual cow.

The system has been fairly successful, with the majority of dairy farmers using it to select animals for breeding in their herd – a lot has changed in the past 20 years.

EBI overview

The Index is comprised of seven Sub-Indexes; milk production and fertility are the two most valuable traits in the index – contributing 33% each.

These are: (1) Milk production; (2) Fertility; (3) Calving performance; (4) Beef Carcass; (5) Cow Maintenance; (6) Cow Management; and (7) Health.

The economic values in the index are based on data collected from Irish dairy farms and the dairy industry.

Is the EBI working?

Research by Teagasc was undertaken to validate if EBI is delivering at farm level using E-profit monitor data.

During their lifetime, profitable dairy cows:

Produce more milk, fat and protein efficiently;
Are more fertile;
Last longer;
Have less sickness;
Have smaller greenhouse gas emissions as a proportion of output.

The research findings have shown that every €1 increase will result in a €2 gain in net profit/cow.

So, cows with an EBI of €100 are leaving €200 more profit per lactation than cows with a value of €0.

These findings confirm two things:

Firstly, that the EBI model has held well as the dairy industry transitions from a quota to a post-quota environment;
Secondly, that selecting bulls on the basis of EBI remains the appropriate choice for profit focused dairy farmers.