Agriland will host a new series by the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) which will show farmers the benefit of using the Commercial Beef Value (CBV) as a guide when buying calves bred from the dairy herd which are destined for beef production.
The series, which will include informative articles and videos, will begin tomorrow (Friday, March 14) and will run throughout March and April and will give various different perspectives from industry personnel.
They will discuss how the CBV is benefitting both farmers who are seeking dairy beef calves with a good genetic beef merit, and dairy farmers who are producing calves with a good genetic beef merit.
Benefit of CBV
While there is a lot of talk about the CBV and the benefits it will provide to farmers, many are still trying to familiarise themselves with what the various different values actually mean, and what is a good or bad value within each respective breed.
The first instalment of the Commercial Beef Value Series will comprise an explainer to help farmers get a better understanding of the CBV.
Throughout the series, which will feature weekly instalments, there will also be information from a mart manager on how the CBV is giving farmers a clearer picture of the genetics of the calf they are buying.
Often when calves are being purchased at the mart, farmers have very little information to work off apart from the physical appearance of the calf.
However, the aim behind the CBV is to assist farmers when deciding what calf is the best to buy for beef production.
CBV is also available for farmers buying suckler-bred cattle, but only cattle that have been genotyped will have a the commercial beef value displayed on a mart board.
Also as part of the series, farmers will hear from a dairy farmer who is selling calves with a good CBV and why this farmer believes it is important to differentiate between better-bred dairy-beef calves and ones with lower beef potential.
Following on from this, the series twill then feature a calf-to-beef farmer who is buying calves using the CBV as an assistance tool in selecting the ones with better genetic beef potential.
The final instalment in the series will provide a research update on the latest findings and how calves with a higher CBV have been performing compared to the calves with lower a commercial beef value.