Farmers in cattle genetic breakthrough

IRISH farmers have successfully adopted the latest cattle genetics breakthrough.

In March and April, 22,400 artificial inseminations came from bulls whose genetic merit has been proved by genomic selection.

It is the first year genomic selection has been used in Ireland. By selecting bulls for widespread use based on their DNA profile, rather than waiting to assess the performance of their daughters, the “generation interval” can be shortened by three years with genomic selection, and genetic improvement accelerated. An Irish Cattle Breeding Federation analysis of the 64,000 inseminations recorded in March and April revealed about one-third of the bulls were “proofed” through their daughters internationally, one-third through their daughters proven in Ireland, and one third by evaluation including genomic information. Significantly, the analysis showed farmers using the genomically selected bulls are achieving a higher average Economic Breeding Index. The average EBI of these bulls was €184, compared to €162 for bulls proven in Ireland and €157 for bulls proven internationally.