The active beef bull lists show the highest-ranked beef AI sires on the replacement and terminal indices that have semen available. The €uro-Star details of these bulls are based on the December 2017 genetic evaluations computed by the ICBF.

The criteria for making the lists are as follows:

  • Bull is genotyped.
  • Reliability percent for replacement or terminal index and calving difficulty of at least 50%.
  • Bull must also have calves in his calving survey evaluation.

    • The proportion of Irish bulls on the replacement index list is starting to grow. This is because the Gene Ireland progeny testing programme is totally focused on progeny testing young beef bulls with high replacement index ratings.

    All of the beef AI sires on both lists are genotyped and are five-star bulls across breed. These are just the top bulls. A full listing of all available bulls can be viewed at www.icbf.com.

    Have a plan

    It is critically important to have a plan for what you intend doing with the progeny of the bull(s) you pick. Yes, a bull could be five stars, but for what?

    The replacement index list is for selecting bulls that you will be retaining some daughters of for breeding. This index has a mix of 60% maternal traits and 40% terminal traits.

    The terminal index list is for selecting bulls with a view to finishing or selling all of their progeny. This index is heavily loaded towards calving ease and obviously the terminal carcase traits.

    Guide to reading the lists

  • Bull details: Rank, AI code, name, breed.
  • Gene Ireland: This indicates as to whether or not the bull was progeny tested through the official ICBF progeny test programme called Gene Ireland. When they were young bulls, their semen would have been distributed to participating beef farmers for use on their suckler cows.

    • A key part of Gene Ireland is that the daughters of these bulls are continually monitored for calving ability, milk and fertility, so as they receive an extremely accurate and reliable proof for their ability to sire profitable suckler cows.

  • Replacement or terminal index: This is the overall single-figure profit index that each bull has. A bull with a replacement index of €200 is expected to sire daughters that are €200 more profitable than the average Irish suckler cow. Likewise, for the terminal index, it is an indication of how profitable a bull’s progeny will be when slaughtered.
  • Calving difficulty percent: Calving difficulty percent is the expected percentage of difficult calvings that a bull will bring.
  • Calving records: This gives the actual number of calving survey records for each bull.
  • Daughter milk: Daughter milk (kg) is the expected level of milk that daughters of a bull will have. It is expressed in terms of the weight gain from the progeny of those daughters (high values desired).
  • Carcase weight: This shows the extra kgs of carcase that is expected from progeny of each bull.
  • Semen: Price and supplier details of each bull are included.

    • Accessing the list online

    Go to www.icbf.com and click on active AI bull lists. Then click on the replacement list or the terminal list.