2019 BDGP dates and deadlines

ICBF are expected to post out tissue tags for BDGP by the end of February. Farmers will have received letters a few weeks ago detailing the animals that have been selected. This is a relatively straightforward exercise. The only complication is that there have been commercial males selected for sampling. This has happened in some herds where all the mature cows have been already sampled and there are insufficient maiden heifers on the farm to sample. In this case, ICBF has deferred issuing these tags until April/May time. This is to allow spring 2019 heifer calves be born and registered and these heifer calves will then be selected for sampling and tags posted out in place of the commercial males. Commercial males can be sampled but farmers need to be careful that they will have enough genotyped females over 16 months of age by October 2020. Participants in BDGP I need to have 50% of the female reference number genotyped 4 or 5 stars on the replacement index by October 2020. Those farmers participating in BDGP II need to have 20% eligible females by October 2020. ICBF have recently updated their website and this includes a BDGP eligible screen, which shows you where your herd is in relation to BDGP targets with eligible females, AI usage and stock bulls.

Another important date this year is 30 June 2019. BDGP I applicants who use a stock bull are required to have at least one eligible stock bull in the herd on 30 June 2019. An eligible stock bull is defined as:

If you are purchasing a new stock bull at upcoming spring sales, ICBF advise the following:

1 The bull has a genomic evaluation.

Just because a bull has a tissue tag doesn’t mean it has a genomic evaluation. If purchasing a bull at a pedigree sale, look for the DNA symbol on the upper right of the catalogue page with the words ‘Genomic Evaluation’. If purchasing a bull privately, search for the bull’s Euro-Star index on the ICBF animal search. If the bull has a genomic evaluation, you will see the green text ‘Note: Genotype included in Evaluation’. Purchasing an ungenotyped bull will mean that the bull will need to be sampled and have a genomic evaluation published before 30 June. There is a risk involved in purchasing an ungenotyped bull, in that if the bull drops to a three star or lower, the bull will then be ineligible for BDGP. There are now six evaluation runs every year where all data is included and a new set of indices are released. With more regular evaluation runs, this will mean indices should move a lot less. Table 1 outlines the next evaluation run where samples received by 6 March will be included in the next evaluation run.

2 The bull is four or five stars on the replacement and/or terminal index

It’s important to remember that this is a within and /or across breed basis. The bull must be four or five stars in at least one of the four boxes at the top of the catalogue page. It’s important that the bull has the required stars with a genomic evaluation. An ungenotyped four or five star bull will have to be genotyped before it can be deemed as an eligible bull in your herd.