Teagasc and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) is set to host a webinar tonight, Thursday, November 2, focusing on recent changes that have been made to the beef breeding index.
The webinar will get underway at 8:00p.m. and will be followed by a live questions and answers session. A registration link is available on the Teagasc website.
The webinar will hear from four speakers, two of whom are from the ICBF and two from Teagasc.
The speakers at the webinar will outline the changes that are set to take place, and will explain how these will impact star-ratings of cattle.
The four speakers in the webinar are as follows:
- Margaret Kelleher, ICBF;
- Donagh Berry, Teagasc;
- Paul Crosson, Teagasc;
- Siobhan Ring, ICBF.
A spokesperson for Teagasc explained to Agriland that the webinar will be “an opportunity for suckler farmers to get a better understanding of what is actually going to happen” as regards the changes to the beef breeding indexes.
Terminal and Replacement index changes
Last week, the board of the ICBF announced the approval of the implementation of changes to both the Terminal and Replacement beef indices.
The changes come following an independent review as well as consultation with working groups and technical advisory panels.
According to ICBF, these changes stem from several years of research involving Teagasc and ICBF, arising from industry feedback and international best practice.
The last review of beef breeding indexes in Ireland occurred in 2016, with economic values based on the Teagasc bio-economic model at that time.
Due to the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP), the indexes remained untouched for the duration of the scheme, despite changes in economic costs.