The row between ICBF and pedigree breed societies has deepened, with the Limousin society opting to remove genetic indexes from all cattle in the society herdbook.

It follows on from a number of breed societies, including the Charolais society and the Simmental society, removing indexes from their official sales catalogues.

The move has caused concern in suckler circles, with some farmers worried about buying SCEP-eligible bulls this spring. ICBF has confirmed that any farmer wishing to buy a bull at a pedigree sale will be able to look up the bull’s indexes once they have the tag number of the bull.

The row is expected to come to a head on Friday at the latest instalment of the beef forum where the ICBF and breed societies will attend to try and hammer out their differences.

ICSA suckler chair, Jimmy Cosgrave, saying that the ICBF needs to take immediate action by uploading all available data and making it accessible to all farmers.

IFA livestock chair, Declan Hanrahan, said: “It is a matter for individual breed societies how they run their premier sales and the information breeders make available for their bulls.

“Farmers buying breeding bulls from pedigree breeders are making a significant financial investment in these animals and should be provided with all available information to help in the selection process”.

The Beef Plan Movement criticised the event as “little more than a talking shop”.

The Irish Beef and Lamb Association (IBLA) said depending on the meeting on Friday, it will consider asking the Minister for Agriculture to make an “alternative body” to ICBF available for cattle breeders.