The Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) has said that nearly 4,400 herds have applied to join the National Genotyping Programme (NGP).
The NGP is a collaborative initiative enabling Ireland to take the first step in achieving a fully genotyped national herd.
The programme, administered by ICBF, is based on a cost-sharing model between the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), the beef and dairy industry and participating farmers.
Genotyping
The NGP recently re-opened for new participants with the extended deadline for applications falling on August 27.
The ICBF has confirmed to Agriland that 4,386 herds submitted applications to join the programme.
The data shows that Galway was the county with the highest number of applications at 495, followed by Clare on 366 and Cork with 339.
The lowest number of applications was lodged from Dublin with 14 applications, Louth had 37 and Carlow had 56.
The following table provides a complete county-by-county breakdown of the number of NGP applications made in this latest round:
County Number of registered dealers and agents Carlow 56 Cavan 213 Clare 366 Cork 339 Donegal 202 Dublin 14 Galway 495 Kerry 231 Kildare 63 Kilkenny 118 Laois 118 Leitrim 167 Limerick 142 Longford 115 Louth 37 Mayo 326 Meath 128 Monaghan 154 Offaly 112 Roscommon 223 Sligo 161 Tipperary 221 Waterford 64 Westmeath 150 Wexford 108 Wicklow 63 TOTAL 4,386
3,454 or 79% of the herds that applied are also in the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP).
The ICBF said that the first cohort of herds will be contacted today (Friday, September 6) by email to let them know that their application has been successful.
“Some applications require follow up i.e. missing information, corrected bank details etc. These herds will be contacted early next week once the relevant information has been provided,” an ICBF spokesperson said.
Herds
For new herds signing up in 2024, the programme will run from 2024-2027. From January 2025-2027 farmers would be registering their calves electronically, using the DNA registration process.
This will mean taking a tissue sample from the calf at birth, posting to the relevant laboratory and recording the calves’ information online via Agfood.ie or using a farm software package.
Once the DNA results are returned to ICBF, farmers will complete the registration online and a passport (blue card) will be issued.
There are currently 10,529 herds participating in the programme, while over 1.3 million animals have been genotyped so far.