ICSA president Dermot Kelleher has said ICBF have gone too far with their changes to the beef breeding indexes regarding pedigree bulls. Commenting on the changes which came into effect this week Mr Kelleher said, “ICSA met with ICBF back in early November where we were reassured that no drastic changes would be made; this has turned out to be far from the case however. The changes are proving to have considerable ramifications for farmers participating in the SCEP scheme and indeed for the future of the suckler sector as a whole,” he said.

“The majority of suckler farmers want to breed a good stylish calf that will sell well in the mart or is fit to export. The problem now is that any AI sire that will do just that has been hammered, and therefore deemed unsuitable for use in the SCEP scheme. The SCEP is an important source of income for suckler farmers, but these changes will do nothing to keep farmers in the scheme.”

“In particular the penalising of bulls that may be a couple of percentage above average for calving for the breed will hit the majority of suckler farmers. We in ICSA would also contend that the idea of cutting the star rating of females from harder calving sires is over the top. Many farmers will be uneasy that constantly selecting for easy calving will lead to cows with poor calving ability, due to smaller pelvic area.  It’s fine in theory to say you can breed for ease of calving but in the long run it’s hard to get everything right. We need a practical, common-sense approach to calving difficulty in the context of suckler farming where quality of calf is everything.”

“Bulls that are now deemed suitable for use in the SCEP scheme will not produce an animal fit for shipping or for any show and sale in any mart for weanlings or fat stock sales. The fantastic cattle sold in Carrick-on-Shannon last weekend simply cannot be produced by bulls that are now labelled suitable for use in the SCEP scheme.”

“The objective should be to encourage farmers to participate in the various schemes – not drive them away. There is plenty of ICBF data that suckler farmers find invaluable such as calving interval, feed conversion rates, beef output per hectare etc., and for reducing your carbon footprint and improving your overall efficiency these are all important indicators and should be more important than a subjective view about calving.”

“Many of our members have grave concerns about their future in the SCEP scheme and these concerns will have to be addressed.”

ENDS