Following Friday’s Beef Stakeholders Forum meeting, the Pedigree Cattle Breeders Council of Ireland took a
vote of no confidence in the board of the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) and it's technical advisory group (TAG). Commenting on the decision, chair of the Pedigree Breeders Council, Seamus Nagle, said: “It is unfortunate we have come to this point, however, at this stage we feel we have no other choice. The current ICBF model is the most comprehensive inbreeding programme in the bovine genetics’ world.
Following Friday’s Beef Stakeholders Forum meeting, the Pedigree Cattle Breeders Council of Ireland took a vote of no confidence in the board of the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) and it's technical advisory group (TAG).
Commenting on the decision, chair of the Pedigree Breeders Council, Seamus Nagle, said: “It is unfortunate we have come to this point, however, at this stage we feel we have no other choice. The current ICBF model is the most comprehensive inbreeding programme in the bovine genetics’ world.
“At Friday’s meeting we raised several issues, such as the top eight Angus bulls on the active bull list on the terminal index having only one calving record. These bulls range from 41-57% reliability. These are genomic projections and are not proven whatsoever.
The ICBF star ratings no longer represent the true value of the national suckler herd
“A commitment was given by a TAG committee member at the November stakeholders forum that stakeholders would be allowed to contribute to the technical discussion around calving difficulty. The breed societies and other stakeholders attended the workshop in good faith. However, not one member of the TAG committee or one technical representative from Teagasc attended the workshop," he said.
Active bull list
Nagle said that not one Simmental, Salers or Shorthorn bull is in the top 20 bulls on the replacement index on the active bull list, despite being bred as maternal breeds for centuries, with only one Limousin bull making it into the top 20.
“The number one bull on the list, Kealkil Prime Lad AA4743, has a carcase weight figure in the bottom 20% of the Angus breed, +2.1Kg carcase weight.
“We have raised these and many other issues at the forum meetings. However, up until last Friday’s meeting, there were no minutes circulated by ICBF from the beef stakeholder forum meetings.
“It is unfortunate ICBF operate in a monopoly market, with no competition whatsoever.
"The ICBF star ratings no longer represent the true value of the national suckler herd. We once again request a fully independent technical review of the ICBF indices".
It is understood the Pedigree Breeders Council’s vote of no confidence will be sent to the Minister for Agriculture this week.
Read more
Pedigree Cattle Breeders Council vote 'no confidence' in board of ICBF
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‘Our focus must remain on the commercial beef farmer’ - ICBF
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