The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) has said that the new Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme (DBWS) “ignores the elephant in the room” regarding genetics.
ICSA Beef chair John Cleary has said that while any investment in improving the calibre of dairy beef calves is to be welcomed, the scheme ignores the fact that “too many farmers are still using Jersey/Kiwi cow genetics for their herd”.
“Dairy farmers who use sexed semen are doubling down on producing dairy cows that simply won’t be able to produce high merit beef calves,” he said.
“It is also worth noting that that an incentive of just €20 per eligible calf is unlikely to sufficiently motivate dairy farmers focused on maximising milk production to alter their breeding practices.
“In addition, the lack of any sort of acknowledgement that the purchasers of these animals will need extra support over the lifetime of these animals remains problematic.”
Value from scheme
The ICSA chair said that any value to be gleaned from the DBWS will be determined by more widespread use of Commercial Beef Value (CBV) when decisions are being made around what animals to buy for further feeding.
“By using the CBV, farmers are already making more informed decisions about what they are buying and how these animals are likely to perform,” Cleary continued.
“It remains unlikely that calf-to-beef producers will want calves born from Jersey/Kiwi crosses. What we need to see is all marts – without exception – displaying CBVs on their boards.”
The ICSA has said that for beef finishers to fully embrace dairy-beef, the pricing structure on the grid will ultimately have to change.
“Major changes will have to follow on the pricing structure within the beef grid system,” Cleary stated.
“Currently there are too many vagaries at play within the payment structure for dairy beef and this will need to be addressed.”
Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme
Earlier this week the DBWS, which has a budget of €25 million over four years, opened for applications.
It is co-funded by the European Union (EU) as part of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Strategic Plan.
The DBWS is a breeding measure which supports farmers using genotyped and genetically superior beef sires for breeding dairy beef calves.
Participants will be required to use AI straws or stock bulls with a minimum rating of 3 stars on the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) Dairy Beef Index (DBI) and on the beef sub-index of the DBI.
Farmers who satisfy the scheme requirements will receive a payment of €20 per eligible calf up to a maximum of 50 calves per holding.