A number of cattle breed societies are seeking a delay in the rollout of the changes to the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation’s (ICBF’s) beef breeding indexes.
The news comes following a meeting between the ICBF and cattle breed societies which took place in Portlaoise, Co. Laois, yesterday (Friday, November 10).
The ICBF has said the new evaluations will be available online from Tuesday, November 21, for suckler farmers to see. However, a number of breed societies believe more time is needed to educate cattle breeders on the new changes.
Some of the societies that have called for a delay in the rollout of the new changes include:
- The Irish Simmental Cattle Society;
- The Irish Charolais Cattle Society;
- The Irish Limousin Cattle Society;
- Irish Salers Cattle Society;
- The Irish Blonde Cattle Society;
- Irish Shorthorn Society;
These societies believe more time is needed for pedigree cattle breeders to assess the impact the changes will have on their respective breeds.
Breed views: Simmentals
A statement from the Irish Simmental Cattle Society to Agriland has confirmed the society is seeking a delay to the introduction of the changes.
The statement said: “The meeting yesterday with the ICBF was very welcome as it afforded the breed societies an opportunity to seek answers to many questions, some of which were previously raised.
“The call for a delay in the rollout of the proposed changes is very welcome and measured as it will afford the sector an opportunity to study the implications that the changes will have on their suckler enterprises.
“One lesson learned over the years is that it is never too late to do the right thing and… deferring the rollout would a major step forward in re-building the sectors trust and confidence in ICBF,” the statement added.
Charolais breed society
A spokesperson from the Irish Charolais Cattle Society society told Agriland that the breed society is seeking a delay on the introduction of the new indexes.
“We think that the changes that are being proposed should be postponed for a period of time until breeders are educated on these changes that are coming in,” the spokesperson said.
“There’s a lot of farmers afraid that their cows will not meet the requirements of the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) scheme.
“The second thing is, breed societies have asked for a run of the top 100 artificial insemination (AI) bulls in each breed on each index to compare the current index versus the new index to see is there any correlation there. There should be, but we need to see that.
“Going forward, all breed societies need to have an input into the direction of their breeding programmes with ICBF. At the minute, that is limited. Breed societies have absolutely no say in the direction of their breeding programmes,” the spokesperson added.
Limousin society
A spokesperson from the Limousin society explained to Agriland that the breed society has asked the ICBF “to postpone the index changes for six months to have an open dialogue with the cattle breeders to explain where they’re coming from, why they’re changing these and what’s the benefit and reasoning behind it”.
The spokesperson said: “ICBF are playing Russian Roulette with the figures that could have a huge detriment on the livelihood of our cattle breeders going forward.”
Pedigree breeders’ council
The chairman of the Pedigree Breeders Council Sean Sherman said:” We have to navigate the way forward carefully. There’s a lot of stakeholders involved here and there’s a lot of concern and anxiety around the industry.
“We had a meeting with the ICBF and the breed societies and a lot of views were exchanged and concerns were raised.
He said breed societies are “seeking more clarity on what it is that’s coming down the track”.
“On November 21, there’s a beef conference at which all of this is going to be rolled out.
“There’s huge concern around the moves because people feel that they’re not informed and prepared enough to accept what’s coming down the track and that’s the piece that we’re most concerned about,” Sherman said.
“84% of the animals are not actually changing their ratings at all.”
The Belgian Blue breeder added: “The perception is that the industry is in absolute turmoil which is not necessarily the case but that needs to be communicated more carefully and more professionally to all the people that it is going to affect.
“There’s a need for calm here,” he emphasised.
Get in touch
Cattle breeders who wish to share their opinion or views on the breeding index changes can send an e-mail to [email protected].
Please include your name and location along with the type of cattle you are breeding on your farm along with your opinion on how you feel the changes will impact the sector.