Bull selection for 2022
How much time do you spend selecting AI bulls in-conjunction with analysing your herd performance and other farmers’ herd performance figures? In many cases, farmers will say not enough time is given to this important task. Martina Gormley, Dairy Specialist discusses the ICBF Sire Advice programme
With the deadline fast approaching to run the ICBF sire advice programme, now is definitely the time to set aside a few hours to get this done.
The ICBF Sire Advice programme
The sire advice programme from ICBF is an excellent tool to help you maximise the genetic gain of your herd. You can pick a panel of AI bulls, and the programme will match the right bull to the right cow based on the genetics of both. Sire Advice also allows you to mark cows to be culled and to identify the lower-merit cows to be bred to high-Dairy Beef Index (DBI) beef bulls. This information will be sent to your AI technician’s handheld device so that the plan can be easily followed during the breeding season. A breeding chart will also be available for you. Combining good bull choices with intensive cow selection has the potential to deliver significantly more profitable and more environmentally friendly cows into the future.
On the ground it is clear to be seen that herds that use bulls each year that are the highest for fertility, protein %, fat % and health are the same herds that are receiving the top milk price each year.
Table 1 below shows an example of the average EBI of a team of bulls from a recent sire advice plan ran by a farmer.
This farmer wants cows around 600 kg in mature weight so the target is a maintenance figure of €10. “With regards to protein % a few years ago I used to select bulls that were 0.10%, the target now is 0.20%. I would not pick any individual bulls below 0.16% for protein”. The farmer says that he picks on EBI first and then looks at the bull’s specifics for fertility, milk, health and maintenance. The farmer also checks to see if the team of bulls that are chosen will result in replacement heifers that are better than the previous year. “That’s really important. I know I have done a bad job if they are not better than last year.
If you have any questions about bull selection talk to your Teagasc advisor.
Find out more about The sire advice program from ICBF here
The Teagasc Dairy Specialists issue an article on a topic of interest to dairy farmers every Monday here on Teagasc Daily. Find out more about Breeding & Genetics here