John Smith, 30-cow herd. Number of BDGP reference animals = 30

  • John is required to have at least six eligible four- or five-star females in his herd by 31 October 2018 (20% of reference number).
  • Currently, John has five eligible four- or five-star females in his cow herd.
  • John should have approximately eight four- or five-star star heifer calves from 2016 and 2017 crops (John started using four- or five-star maternal AI sires at beginning of BDGP in 2015).
  • Two of John’s current eligible females will have to be culled after weaning this year for docility and lameness.
  • Six of John’s current and potential four- or five-star heifer calves will be kept as replacements.
  • John will surpass his BDGP target of six eligible four- or five-star females in the herd by 31 October 2018.

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    Sean Murphy, 30-cow herd. Number of BDGP reference animals = 30

  • Sean is required to have at least six eligible four- or five-star females in his herd by 31 October 2018 (20% of reference number).
  • A stock bull problem has led to a high empty rate this year.
  • Currently, Sean has nine eligible four- or five-star females in his herd with an average age of eight years old.
  • Sean has three four- or five-star heifer calves born in 2016 and 2017.
  • Six of Sean’s eligible females are not in-calf and are to be culled this year.
  • Sean breeds his own replacements but does not have a big pool of high-index heifers to pick from between current (2016-born) and potential (spring 2017) animals.
  • Unless he takes action, Sean will not meet his BDGP target of six eligible four- or five-star females in the herd by 31 October 2018.

    • Click for full-size graphic

    The two scenarios illustrated here are a reminder that the eye must stay on the BDGP-ball. On 31 October 2018, 20% of reference suckler cows/heifers must be genotyped as 4/5 star. Animals born later than 2 July of this year will not be eligible for inclusion in the 2018 calculation. While the 20% target might seem like a doddle for many, there will inevitably be farmers at the lower end of the scale currently not meeting or struggling to meet the requirement.

    The first farmer, John Smith is not currently meeting the 2018 BDGP replacement target.

    However, upon joining the programme he switched to maternal sires and will be breeding the first of their progeny this year. While he is culling two eligible females this year, between the 2016 and 2017 calf crops he hopes to have eight four- or five-star heifers, of which the best six will go into the breeding herd.

    Target

    The second farm above, that of Sean Murphy, is currently meeting the target, but was unfortunate enough to have six of his nine eligible females return as empty after last year’s breeding season.

    These will be culled, but given that he will not have enough eligible females coming in from his 2016 and potential 2017 heifers, he will have to purchase animals at this point. To be considered eligible, all bought-in females must be genotyped, at least 16 months old on 31 October 2018 and born later than 2012.

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    Special focus: sucklers