The Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) is currently looking into making changes to the fertility sub-index within the economic breeding index (EBI).
The EBI has been in place for over 20 years now, with a number of changes being made throughout this period.
Most recently we saw the introduction of a carbon sub-index to the EBI, which makes up about 10% of the total EBI euro value.
EBI
A change to the EBI which is currently being worked on by ICBF will see changes to the fertility sub-index within the EBI, as mentioned.
This is according to Margaret Kelleher, a geneticist with ICBF, who was speaking on the Teagasc, ‘Meeting future challenges by breeding better cows’ webinar on Thursday (March 23) as part of the Teagasc Breeding Week events.
However, how this change might work has not yet been set in stone.
Kelleher said: “What we have at the moment has played a very important role in getting us to high levels of fertility in our herds.
“But we are just trying to nudge it forward. Can we find other traits of importance within the fertility sub-index?” she posed.
“What we [have] there is calving interval, survival – we are looking at traits very similar to that but we are trying to focus more on the seasonal-type herds, not forgetting the non-seasonal herds.
“But we also have new types of data in as well, as the mating data that is really important to pick up the early indictors of fertility.
“There are a few different traits on the table, it is not finalised yet; it is work in progress.”
Fertility
The fertility sub-index, along with milk, has the biggest bearing on the euro value given to each animal.
Increased fertility levels have a number of benefits on farm level for dairy herds.
The EBI continues to change and progress as required, and this latest change will mean that the traits that make up the fertility sub-index may change.
But it will have little impact on what a farmer actually sees. They will still just see a euro value for fertility.
Instead, what is happening is that euro value for fertility will have more traits feeding into it and this should increase the reliability of this figure.