ACCBank EBI Discussion Group Winners

The €10,000 first prize in the EBI Discussion Group Competition was won jointly by the Damer Dairy Discussion Group based in the midlands and the Crookstown Dairy Discussion Group from Cork. The prize was presented to the winning groups in Fermoy, Co. Cork, on Thursday, 10 December. This is the first time there have been joint winners of the competition and reflects the higher performance being achieved by farmers. Both groups achieved 473 marks out of 500 in the competition. Over 1,000 dairy farmers, members of 74 dairy discussion groups from around the country participated in this hotly contested competition.

County Tipperary was the winning county, with the highest number of groups participating in the competition. A prize fund of €5,000 will be shared by the eleven participating groups in the county. There were nine other category winners in the competition.

The EBI competition promotes better breeding on dairy farms. Its €42,000 prize fund was sponsored by ACCBank and the competition is run in association with Teagasc, ICBF and the Farmers’ Journal. Speaking at the EBI awards Sean Farrell, national agri-manager at ACCBank said: “ACCBank is delighted to continue our sponsorship of the EBI Competition. The improvements in EBI being achieved in some herds throughout the country are an example to all milk producers of what can be achieved within local discussion groups. ”

Commenting on the event, ICBF chief executive, Brian Wickham complimented the increases in quantity and quality of dairy replacements achieved by group members. “The fact that both the number of AI bred females (up from 26 to 30 females per 100 cows) and average EBI of bulls used (up from €131 to €146) had increased significantly, is a confirmation that the objectives of the competition are being achieved. Well done to all participants.”

Speaking on behalf of the judges in the competition, Teagasc dairy specialist, George Ramsbottom said: ”There is a strong link between high EBI and profitability on farms. The improvements that have flowed from the higher rate of adoption of the participating groups of better genetics, identified through genomic selection, is one of the most pleasing aspects of this year’s competition. “
Judging in the competition took a new format this year. The groups underwent a three stage process:

Stage 1 - Business Financial Exercise based on a cash flow case study.

Stage 2 - Interview with three judges which focused on aspects of the group’s breeding performance during the 2009 season.

Stage 3 – Debriefing session where the groups met Teagasc dairy specialists to identify the three or four key take-home messages from the competition.

Jack Kennedy, dairy editor of the Irish Farmers’ Journal congratulated all the winning groups and those that participated in the competition. He said: “It was a huge undertaking to meet with 74 groups and over 1,000 farmers. However, the effort was entirely justified, especially when you see the improvements in performance that groups are now achieving. Well done to all involved in the competition and we look forward to meeting more groups through an expanded competition next year”.

The Crookstown Group consists of 12 dairy farmers in Cork, is chaired by Liam Leahy and facilitated by Teagasc adviser Seamus Lordan. Members have an average herd EBI of €82. Milk sales for 2009 averaged 770 kilograms of milk solids per hectare at the end of September.

The Damer Group consists of 22 dairy farmers principally from counties Tipperary and Laois, is chaired by John Butler from Templemore and facilitated by Teagasc’s Matt Ryan, Fintan Monahan and Michael Hogan. The average herd EBI is €85. Milk sales for 2009 averaged 766 kilograms of milk solids per hectare at the end of September.

Overall Joint winners:
Damer Discussion Group
Crookstown Discussion Group

Regional winning groups each with a prize fund of €5,000:
Connacht/Ulster - Killimor Discussion Group, Galway
Leinster - Navan Discussion Group, Meath
Munster - Outrath Discussion Group, Tipperary

Best County (€5,000):
Tipperary

Prize funds of €2,000 each to:
Connacht/Ulster:
Development category – Scariff Discussion Group, Clare
Newly formed category – Cooraclare-Doonbeg Discussion Group, Clare

Leinster:
Development category – Acorn Discussion Group, Laois
Newly formed category – West Offaly Discussion Group

Munster:
Development category – Dairymis Discussion Group, Cork
Newly formed category - Deise 1250 Discussion Group, Waterford