The national genotyping programme opened for applications on Wednesday with the scheme open for dairy farmers until 14 July.

Applications to the scheme, which allows for all animals in a herd to be genotyped free of charge in 2023 will be on a first come first served basis and co-op quotas will apply.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal this week, Kevin Downing from ICBF explained that if the scheme is over-subscribed there will be limits on how many farmers from each co-op can join, proportionate to the size of the co-op.

Farmers who are enrolled into the scheme must commit to genotype their calves for a four year period. While the initial cost of genotyping the existing animals on the farm will be covered, the cost of genotyping calves will be split equally between the farmer, the industry and Government.

The total cost for the farmer will be €6 per animal, including the cost of the tags. For farmers in the scheme the tags they will be using next year will contain the standard identification tags plus electronic ID, BVD tissue tag and tissue tag for DNA sample.

Turnaround time from the day the calf is tagged to the blue card returned is expected to be 11 days.