Certified Irish Angus has today, Friday, January 7, announced what it describes as its “highest-ever off-season bonus” for Angus beef cattle.
The beef bonus will be made available to Certified Irish Angus members this spring.
The producer group is offering a bonus of 30c/kg for Angus animals slaughtered between March 14 and May 16, 2022.
These animals must be pre booked before February 28, 2022.
This off-season bonus will be paid in addition to the Farm Quality Assurance bonus which ranges from 12c-20c/kg per animal.
Commenting on the announcement, the general manager of Certified Irish Angus, Charles Smith, said: “We are delighted to announce details of this substantial bonus which is on offer to our members allowing them to make plans for spring 2022 with confidence.
“The bonus will provide a real opportunity for members, helping them to offset the additional costs of feed and fertiliser and enable them to plan their spring beef production with additional certainty.”
According to a statement from Certified Irish Angus, the move “is just one of a series of progressive initiatives being rolled out by Certified Irish Angus in order to provide additional value for members”.
The group recently embarked on a breed improvement programme with the aim of improving the environmental and economic sustainability of its 10,000 active farmer members.
This involved the purchase of a “top-quality” young bull (Drumcrow Tribesman), in partnership with Dovea Genetics, from the McKiernan family, who are well known in cattle breeding circles across Ireland and further afield.
This bull will be made available through AI to all its members, with the aim of improving the quality of the animals they produce.
Certified Irish Angus also launched a new online portal for members last year which allows them to book their Angus cattle for slaughter online.
Through the development of a unique API (Application Programming Interface) with ICBF, members who have given ICBF data release can also have access to a full listing of animals within their herd.
Members who have ICBF Herd Plus will be provided with details of the terminal index of each animal as they make the booking, allowing them to assess the value of using higher-quality Angus genetics.
Farmers who want to find out more can visit certifiedirishangus.ie