The Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) has said that a planned upgrade to improve efficiency may lead to “intermittent disruption of services” this month.
The ICBF is set to publish its final genetic evaluation of 2024 on November 26, which will be the sixth and last release for the year.
The first evaluation of 2025, meanwhile, is scheduled for March 25.
The ICBF usually issues six evaluations, spaced around two month apart. However, in response to an increasing data flow, such as an eightfold rise in genotype volume in February 2024 compared to the previous two years, and growing demands on genotyping information, the ICBF is carrying out a “major upgrade” to its genetics infrastructure.
The body said that this is being done with the aim to improve output efficiencies and support long-term needs.
However, the ICBF also warned that during the upgrade period, there may be intermittent disruption to services. Notably, there will be no weekly update on newly genotyped animals on November 22.
These will be included in the following Friday’s publication, pending the successful installation of hardware.
The ICBF said it will “endeavour to continue releasing weekly updates on newly genotyped animals every Friday, where possible, to support continuity for farmers and industry stakeholders”.
The ICBF currently maintains one of the largest genotyped databases worldwide, now approaching five million genotyped from both dairy and beef cattle, one million of which were added in 2024 alone.
“This extensive dataset enables ICBF to harness genomic selection effectively, identifying high-potential animals earlier in life and delivering substantial benefits to farmers,” the body said.
According to the ICBF, these benefits include enhanced accuracy of breeding values, especially for young animals with limited performance data; accelerated genetic progress through faster identification of superior animals and shorter generation intervals; correcting parentage information; identifying major genes; and allowing for more selective mating and management decisions.
“ICBF’s ongoing innovations in genetic evaluations supports Ireland’s cattle industry in driving genetic advancement, improving herd performance, and meeting future challenges in sustainable farming,” the cattle breeding authority said.