asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries the percentage of the bulls initially chosen for beef characteristics for the AI service which are culled on the basis of their progeny tests.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Beef Bulls.
42.
Systematic progeny testing of AI beef bulls has only recently been introduced and as the main basis for selection will be performance testing, the scope of the progeny testing will be limited. The first progeny test results are not expected until 1974. From time to time AI beef bulls have been culled on the basis of field assessment of progeny.
Could the Minister state if up to now beef bulls in the AI service have been tested in any way or to any appreciable extent?
I am not aware of any exhaustive tests done in the past, but the current practice is to do performance testing on the stud bulls. This, of course, takes into account consideration of the animal's general formation. In the case of beef bulls, it is not nearly so necessary to do progeny testing as it would be in the case of dairy cattle because the physical characteristics, like daily weight gain and so forth, are more transmissible in beef cattle than they are in other cattle.