Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 November 2023
910. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will advise on the siring rating system under the suckler carbon efficiency programme; if he is aware of concerns around rating changes for the beef siring rating for continental breeds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47915/23]
View answerThe objective of the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) is to provide support to suckler and beef farmers to improve the environmental sustainability of the national beef herd. The programme aims to build on the gains delivered in recent years through the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) and the Beef Environmental Efficiency Programme (BEEP) by improving the genetic merit of the Irish suckler herd.
The beef Euro-Star Index will see improvements introduced at the next evaluation publication on Tuesday 21 November 2023. These improvements are the culmination of years of research by both the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) and Teagasc. These changes include:
1. Updating the trait economic values
Each trait in the Euro-Star Replacement & Terminal Indexes has an economic value. These values should reflect current costs of production and should be updated routinely. However, these economic values have not been updated since 2015 which was before the BDGP scheme was introduced. There have been many changes to the cost of production since that time and therefore it is necessary to update the economic values to reflect these updated costs of production.
2. The inclusion of the cost of carbon
Due to policy changes at EU and national level, Ireland is legally obliged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Breeding is a scientifically proven tool which can be used to aid in that reduction and as a result the cost of carbon is being introduced to the Euro-Star Index. This has already been incorporated into the Economic Breeding Index (EBI) and the Dairy Beef Index (DBI) in dairy breeding. Carbon, which is set at a cost of €80/tonne, will be factored into the economic values of a range of traits including (but not limited to) gestation length, feed intake and age at first calving.
3. Additional traits of interest
As market demands and policy change, so too do the traits of interest in a breeding programme.
• ‘Age at Finish’ has been introduced as a new trait which will reward animals that are finished at a younger age. This will be of benefit to the farmer economically as it will reduce the cost of production, but also environmentally as there will be a reduction in the amount of carbon produced.
• TB is being introduced and this trait will help farmers to identify animals which are genetically more resistant to TB.
• The inclusion of carcass weight, fat, and conformation will be modified within the index to reflect that there is an optimum carcass range for animals (e.g., cattle should meet a minimum fat cover, but also not be overfat).
4. Continental breeds
Continental breeds are currently the most desirable cattle ranked on the Terminal Index and they will continue to be the most desirable after improvements to the index have been implemented.
The top three most desirable breeds on the Replacement Index (Simmental, Limousin, Angus) remain as the top three after the changes; that said, the traditional breeds will improve.
For the majority of animals, these improvements will mean little change in the ranking of animals on the Euro-Star Index. The purpose of the changes is to help to protect Irish suckler beef production from the economic and environmental challenges which it faces, both now and into the future.
