Dairy
The Irish Aberdeen Angus Association will not support Teagasc in its proposal to establish a “nucleus herd breeding programme”.
Agri-Business
Teagasc is currently considering establishing a "nucleus herd breeding programme" to double the rate of gain in the Dairy Beef Index.
Dairy Technical
If you have determined the number of animals not yet in-calf and have the correct number of bulls, the continued use of beef AI may be an option.
Sire selection is a crucial aspect of herd management that sufficient time needs to be allocated to.
With the breeding season starting on many farms over the coming days, the ICBF has outlined some simple steps to follow during the season.
Beef
With the breeding season being just around the corner on spring-calving dairy farms, the task of sire selection will have to be undertaken.
Something that a lot of farmers might be hearing over the next few weeks is the Dairy Beef Index (DBI) when it comes to buying calves.
New changes are set to be made to both the dairy Economic Breeding Index (EBI) and the calving difficulty evaluation.
Agri Politics
ICMSA says the DBI presents an opportunity to improve the quality of the calf from the dairy herd - from a beef perspective.
Dr. Andrew Cromie discusses the new DBI and what benefits it can bring to beef and dairy farmers, as well as the industry as a whole.
Some dairy farmers are now looking for bulls that might be "a little bit harder" calving, but are "good" on beef merit, an ICBF expert says.
The expansion in the dairy industry has resulted in more bull calves from the dairy herd coming on stream for beef production.
