One tool in the arsenal of dairy beef farmers, is the commercial beef value (CBV), which was launched by the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) in late 2021.
Although sourcing healthy animals is important for dairy-beef production, so too is selecting animals that have the genetic potential to perform from birth to slaughter.
The CBV is a tool designed for non-breeding beef farmers, which gives them an insight into the genetic merit for beef production parentage.
In the video below, Teagasc DairyBeef 500 programme advisor, Tommy Cox outlines the importance of purchasing animals with genetic potential to perform.
The CBV comprises five key traits: Carcass weight; carcass confirmation; carcass fat; feed intake; and docility.
Cox said that it is a useful selection tool to identify high genetic merit beef animals that are faster growing, have better shape, are more feed efficient and docile.
Calves with a registered sire will have a CBV, while calves without a registered sire will not have a CBV, and purchasers may be in the dark regarding their genetic potential.
The CBV value of an animal can be seen in the ‘through the profile’ section of HerdPlus, and on mart boards for calves that have been genotyped.
It is expressed as a euro value and is generated for all cattle that are likely to go into a finishing system.
Animals are assigned one of the following three different breed types, depending on sire and dam breed: Beef cross beef; beef cross dairy and dairy cross dairy.
Like the terminal and replacement indexes, animals are assigned a star rating of between one and five.
Five-star animals are within the top 20% of the national calculation within that breed type, while one-star animals are in the bottom 20% of the national calculation.
For breeding farmers aiming to maximise the use of the CBV, the use of the terminal index and dairy beef index (DBI) should be a priority to breed a more marketable animal.
Cox says that a within both of these indexes, attention should be placed on the carcass and feed sub-indexes.