Farmers participating in the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) have been granted a reprieve on hitting the 50% four- and five-star female requirement as part of the scheme.
Under the original terms and conditions of SCEP, participating farmers had to have 50% of the reference number of females in their herd genotyped four- or five-star on 31 October 2023.
Farmers will now have until Friday 24 November to hit the 50% target.
Delays
The extension is due to long delays getting genotype results back from Weatherbys DNA laboratory.
The Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) put the multi-million genotyping contract out to tender earlier this year, but due to a number of delays in the process the contract wasn’t finalised until late summer.
It was hoped that lab processing of samples could have been ramped up in recent weeks to get all samples back to farmers, but this hasn’t happened as quickly as first hoped.
Samples
Some farmers have samples that were submitted two months ago, with no results back yet.
These farmers have been left in a difficult position as to whether they will meet the 31 October deadline, with no way of knowing what number of genotyped four- and five-star animals are in their herd at the moment.
Due to these delays, the Department of Agriculture has agreed to move the date to the new deadline of 24 November.
Important points
Herds will only be given this second date if they are short on 31 October and all of their samples had been returned to the lab by 31 October and they were waiting on genomic results.If a herd has all samples returned and genomic evaluations are published for all animals, then they must meet the 31 October deadline. If these herds were short of animals, they were going to have to buy genotyped four- or five-star females by 31 October 2023 anyway.Herds that meet the target on 31 October are seen to have fulfilled the requirements of the programme. They can sell animals on 1 November if they want to.For the herds that are short on 31 October and are eligible to use the 24 November deadline, they will have to have the full amount of animals on the new date. For example, if a herd needs 10 eligible females, they cannot use an aggregate count of the two dates - for example, seven eligible females on 31 October, sell them on and have three other females on 24 November. All 10 females will need to be in a herd on either 31 October or 24 November.The ICBF is going to be able to use weekly evaluation runs up until the end of November 2023 to update farmers' genomic profiles.An important point is that a female can only be counted in one herd - ie, it cannot be counted in one herd on 31 October and another herd on 24 November. If herd A needs 10 eligible females on 31 October and has 10, then it will be compliant, but with no surplus. Herd B is caught by late genotypes and is eligible to use the 24 November date. Herd B buys one of herd A’s eligible females, but this animal cannot be counted by herd B, as she has already been allocated to herd A for 31 October. If herds are buying females for 24 November, they will need to make sure they are buying from herds with a surplus.
Below is an example of a farmer situation that can avail of the new 24 November date.
Using an example of a herd with a reference number of 20. They need 10 genotyped four- or five-star females on 31 October. The herd was not in the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP), so has no animals which are already genotyped.
There are 11 females that look like they will meet the requirement once they get a genomic evaluation. The genomic evaluations aren’t published until Friday 10 November and two of the animals drop down to three-star.
The farmer now only has nine eligible females. Without the extension, the farmer couldn’t do anything, as the animals were not in the herd on 31 October.
They now have a chance to go out and buy one genotyped four- or five-star female and provided they have the 10 animals in the herd on 24 November, they will be compliant with the scheme.
Farmers participating in the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) have been granted a reprieve on hitting the 50% four- and five-star female requirement as part of the scheme.
Under the original terms and conditions of SCEP, participating farmers had to have 50% of the reference number of females in their herd genotyped four- or five-star on 31 October 2023.
Farmers will now have until Friday 24 November to hit the 50% target.
Delays
The extension is due to long delays getting genotype results back from Weatherbys DNA laboratory.
The Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) put the multi-million genotyping contract out to tender earlier this year, but due to a number of delays in the process the contract wasn’t finalised until late summer.
It was hoped that lab processing of samples could have been ramped up in recent weeks to get all samples back to farmers, but this hasn’t happened as quickly as first hoped.
Samples
Some farmers have samples that were submitted two months ago, with no results back yet.
These farmers have been left in a difficult position as to whether they will meet the 31 October deadline, with no way of knowing what number of genotyped four- and five-star animals are in their herd at the moment.
Due to these delays, the Department of Agriculture has agreed to move the date to the new deadline of 24 November.
Important points
Herds will only be given this second date if they are short on 31 October and all of their samples had been returned to the lab by 31 October and they were waiting on genomic results.If a herd has all samples returned and genomic evaluations are published for all animals, then they must meet the 31 October deadline. If these herds were short of animals, they were going to have to buy genotyped four- or five-star females by 31 October 2023 anyway.Herds that meet the target on 31 October are seen to have fulfilled the requirements of the programme. They can sell animals on 1 November if they want to.For the herds that are short on 31 October and are eligible to use the 24 November deadline, they will have to have the full amount of animals on the new date. For example, if a herd needs 10 eligible females, they cannot use an aggregate count of the two dates - for example, seven eligible females on 31 October, sell them on and have three other females on 24 November. All 10 females will need to be in a herd on either 31 October or 24 November.The ICBF is going to be able to use weekly evaluation runs up until the end of November 2023 to update farmers' genomic profiles.An important point is that a female can only be counted in one herd - ie, it cannot be counted in one herd on 31 October and another herd on 24 November. If herd A needs 10 eligible females on 31 October and has 10, then it will be compliant, but with no surplus. Herd B is caught by late genotypes and is eligible to use the 24 November date. Herd B buys one of herd A’s eligible females, but this animal cannot be counted by herd B, as she has already been allocated to herd A for 31 October. If herds are buying females for 24 November, they will need to make sure they are buying from herds with a surplus.
Below is an example of a farmer situation that can avail of the new 24 November date.
Using an example of a herd with a reference number of 20. They need 10 genotyped four- or five-star females on 31 October. The herd was not in the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP), so has no animals which are already genotyped.
There are 11 females that look like they will meet the requirement once they get a genomic evaluation. The genomic evaluations aren’t published until Friday 10 November and two of the animals drop down to three-star.
The farmer now only has nine eligible females. Without the extension, the farmer couldn’t do anything, as the animals were not in the herd on 31 October.
They now have a chance to go out and buy one genotyped four- or five-star female and provided they have the 10 animals in the herd on 24 November, they will be compliant with the scheme.
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