The Dealer was delighted to see that the former ICBF chief executive, Brian Wickham, is back working with the agri industry as a private consultant – he chaired the discussion on the roll out of a new grass breeding index on Tuesday, this week. Over 60 representatives of the Irish grass seed industry met in Moorepark to discuss the development of the grass index, which will rank a grass variety on a total economic index, similar to how AI bulls are ranked. The new grass index has been talked about for a number of years and the plan is that the recommended list, published in 2014, will contain the first glimpse of how new grasses will rank.
The Dealer was delighted to see that the former ICBF chief executive, Brian Wickham, is back working with the agri industry as a private consultant – he chaired the discussion on the roll out of a new grass breeding index on Tuesday, this week.
Over 60 representatives of the Irish grass seed industry met in Moorepark to discuss the development of the grass index, which will rank a grass variety on a total economic index, similar to how AI bulls are ranked. The new grass index has been talked about for a number of years and the plan is that the recommended list, published in 2014, will contain the first glimpse of how new grasses will rank.
While the exact euro value for a variety will not be available next year, data for yield, quality, silage and persistency will be printed. Like with all lists not everyone will be happy. However, with Wickham in the chair we know at least he has been through all that before.
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: