The findings are very positive, and crossbreeding is very much here to stay, says Frank Buckley of the Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Teagasc, Moorepark, which has been involved for the past six years in evaluating the merits of crossbreeding with Jersey.

GENOMIC cattle tests costing just €50 could lead to a dramatic quality upgrade for the Irish herd, following a Teagasc breakthrough worth a collective €115 million a year to Irish farmers.

VISITORS to the Teagasc research facility in north Cork might be forgiven for thinking they had stumbled onto the set of a low budget B-movie — maybe called something like Moooon Landing: Bovines With Backpacks.