As a result of the National Genotyping Programme (NGP), more dairy-beef calves will have a commercial beef value (CBV) to assist farmers buying calves this spring.
While the CBV will be more widely available this spring, it is important that farmers who are buying calves to rear for beef production are familiar with the CBV, and know how to use it to their benefit.
With this in mind, ABP Food Group’s Advantage Beef Programme’s farm liaison team leader, Amie Coonan, explained how farmers can look up a calf’s CBV on the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) app.
It is important to note that the CBV column is only available to ICBF HerdPlus members.
ABP’s Advantage Beef Programme has linked up with dairy farmers across its catchment area that have a good cow type, good calf-rearing facilities and have used high genetic-merit beef bulls.
These farmers are available for ABP suppliers to link with and purchase calves from.
For more information, farmers can contact Aideen on 086 1653501.
The video below shows how a CBV for a calf can be found and explains what the value means:
Purchasing a healthy, lively calf with a good genetic beef potential is the first step in profitable calf to beef production.
In the past, farmers were tasked with purchasing calves based on their physical appearance alone. While the physical appearance of the calf is still essential, farmers now have the CBV to give a better insight into the animal’s genetic beef potential.
The CBV gives all non-breeding animals a Euro value which is based on five key traits:
- Carcass weight;
- Carcass conformation;
- Carcass fat;
- Docility;
- Feed intake.
All calves that are gnomically sampled will have a CBV figure displayed on mart boards when they are being sold.
If a farmer is buying calves direct from another farm, the dairy farmer will have a CBV figure for all calves on their ICBF profile, if they are a HerdPlus member.
Farmers using the CBV to buy calves should familiarise themselves with the values displayed in the official CBV star-rating percentile table:
Amie explained: “Dairy calf to beef farmers will be using the Dairy x Beef and Dairy x Dairy rows above.
“For example, if you are purchasing Angus calves and one animal has a CBV of €120 and another has a CBV of €55 then this indicates that the higher-value calf will leave €65 more profit through better carcass weight, conformation and feed efficiency.”
The Advantage programme farm liaison team leader explained that while the CBV will be a great tool for beef farmers when purchasing calves, “visually inspecting the calves is still a very important factor”.
She reminded farmers buying calves to ensure that the calves “have a clean, moist nose, clean tail, with no hair loss and bright eyes”.
“A healthy calf should be lively and interacting with other calves in the pen.”
Farmers can click here to find out more news and updates on the Advantage Beef Programme, which offers a 20c/kg sustainability bonus to its members for eligible cattle.