Opening remarks to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and
the Marine on the Beef Data and Genomics Programme
Tuesday 16th June 2015
Thank you for providing the opportunity to update you on developments in relation to the
Beef Data and Genomics Programme.
The Programme was launched by Minister Coveney on 5th May last. It is part of Ireland’s
Rural Development Programme 2014-2020. It involves funding of some €300 million over
the next 6 years and builds on the State’s investment in data recording and genomics in
recent years.
It will address widely acknowledged weaknesses in the maternal genetics of the Irish suckler
herd, make a positive contribution to farmer profitability and reduce the the Greenhouse
Gas intensity of Ireland’s beef production.
Suckler beef sector
Beef accounts for 35% of the gross output of the agriculture sector. It is arguably the most
important primary agriculture product in Ireland at farm level. Beef exports in 2014
amounted to 524,000 tonnes, worth €2.27 billion.
Ireland exports 90% of its beef. We are the biggest net exporter of beef in the EU and the 5 th
biggest in the world. In addition to Beef exports, Ireland also has a strong live export trade
to Europe and beyond with over 236,000 live animals exported in 2014 at a value of over
€172 million.
The suckler herd is a critical component of the industry. It is beef from the suckler herd that
has principally enabled us to succeed on international retail markets. It is important,
therefore, that policy at EU and national level recognises the challenges and opportunities
1
facing suckler beef farmers, and provides the infrastructure to help it to respond and thrive
in this environment.
Some of the Challenges
There is a clear profitability challenge on suckler farms. This is not a new phenomenon. The
2014 Teagasc National Farm Survey showed that cattle rearing farms had an average family
farm income of just over €10,000 and that for many suckler farmers the income they receive
from direct payments exceeds the income they receive from the market.
In addition, the impact of livestock production has become a critical part of the international
debate on climate change. While the production of beef in Ireland has a low carbon
footprint relative to some competitors, in Ireland the agriculture sector accounts for a high
percentage of our overall emissions. Positioning Ireland in the international market place as
a producer of high quality, environmentally sustainable beef, through initiatives like Origin
Green, has been a central part of Bord Bia’s marketing and promotion strategy on
international markets.
In its October 2014 conclusions on the EU’s Climate and Energy Framework to 2030, the
European Council recognised the need to meet rising global demand for food in a way that is
environmentally sustainable, and committed the EU Commission to examining how to
encourage the sustainable intensification of food production.
Improving the genetics of the suckler herd can make a positive contribution in all of these
areas. Research from Teagasc and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation shows that the
suckler herd faces significant breeding challenges at present. The sector has been successful
in breeding animals for terminal type traits such as carcase weight and carcase
conformation in response to market demand for high output beef animals. However, there
has been less concentration on maternal efficiency traits such as fertility and milk yield
which are equally important for producing good weanlings and improving profitability.
On average, Irish beef farmers produce only 8 calves for every 10 suckler cows, and this
trend has not been improving. The interval between calving has been expanding and is now
2
well in excess of 400 days. This is going in the wrong direction and the reality on the ground
is well beyond the target of one calf per cow every 365 days. There are similar concerns in
relation to other measures such as the age at first calving and the weight of calves at
weaning.
Policy Response
The BDGP is a response to these challenges. It provides targeted support to suckler farmers.
It builds on the success of the state’s investment of over €9 million in the Beef Data
Programme in each of 2013 and 2014, and on the success of the pilot Beef Genomics
Scheme which involved investment of around €23 million last year.
The BDGP will enhance our knowledge and understanding of the national herd through
increased data collection and genotyping. Farmers can then utilise this information to retain
the best type of animal as replacement heifers for breeding. The rationale for the scheme is
based on the relationship between carbon and economic efficiency at farm level.
By producing animals more efficiently in terms of fertility levels and milk yields, the beef
sector can benefit on the double;
 firstly through an improvement in the profitability for farmers from producing
weanlings or finished animals and secondly,
 through a reduction in the amount of Greenhouse gases emitted in the production of
these animals.
Agri-environment and climate measure
The BDGP is the first measure of its kind anywhere in the EU. It’s has been approved by the
EU Commission under Article 28 of the Rural Development Regulation, which deals with Agri
Environment.
3
Programmes approved under this Article are required to comply with certain requirements:
 Firstly, payments are based on the cost incurred and income foregone in carrying out
the programme. This is a principle which applies to RDP schemes generally. Any
modification or deletion to the actions in the programme would of course result in a
corresponding reduction in payments;
 Secondly, commitments must, under the regulation, be for a period of five to seven
years. The BDGP requires a 6 year commitment by the scheme applicant and this is
matched by a corresponding commitment from Government to provide a stable and
guaranteed payment to applicants over that 6 year period. There have been some
concerns expressed regarding this 6 year commitment and, as a result, Minister
Coveney has signalled a number of flexibilities regarding exit during the 6 year
programme. I am happy to go into these in more detail later if the Committee
wishes.
 All agri-environment measures are required to be paid on a per hectare basis.
Payment Model
Participants in the BDGP will receive a payment of €142.50 for the first 6.66 hectares and
€120 for each hectare thereafter, up to a maximum payable hectarage. This is equivalent to
approximately €95 for the first 10 calved cows, and €80 for each additional calved cow.
Participants will also receive an additional €166 to attend a training course linked to the
programme.
The maximum payable hectarage is calculated by dividing the number of calved cows in the
herd in 2014 (the reference amount) by a standard stocking rate of 1.5 calved cows per
hectare. On the basis of this stocking rate, the vast majority of farmers have far more land
than they require to obtain the maximum payment under the scheme.
4
Almost half of farmers have a stocking rate of 0.5 or less and 90% have a stocking rate of
less than 1. For example, a farmer with 10 cows and a stocking rate of 0.5 will have 20
hectares, but will require less than 7 of these for the full payment under the scheme.
Scheme requirements
In return for this payment, which is calculated on a cost incurred and income foregone
basis, the participant will be required to undertake 6 actions, many of which are already
known to and well understood by participants in last year’s beef data and genomics
schemes.
Requirement 1 – calving details
Participants must complete a calving ease survey for each calf born on the farm using what
is known as the “Animals Events Sheet”. This is in addition to normal tagging and
registration requirements and can be completed on-line or through the animal events book
provided by the ICBF. Farmers are familiar with this requirement which is exactly the same
as was required under the Beef Data Programme over the last two years.
Requirement 2 – Surveys
The second action involves the completion and submission of survey forms in respect of the
cows, calves and stock bulls on the farm. The data submitted will relate to criteria such as
milking ability, docility, calf size and calf vigour. This is vital information for the database
behind the breeding indexes which are developed by the ICBF and will strengthen the
robustness of breeding advice provided to farmers. Again, this requirement is the same as
that already undertaken by farmers who were in the Beef Data Programme in recent years,
albeit with some additional information now required.
Requirement 3 – Genotyping
The requirement to genotype animals on farms was the central component of the pilot Beef
Genomics Scheme last year. The only difference under the BDGP will be the increase in the
percentage of animals to be genotyped, but this is matched by an increase in payment. As
5
with last year’s scheme, the proportion of the payment to the farmer absorbed by
genotyping costs is expected to be approximately 15%.
The ICBF will select animals to be genotyped in each herd and will notify owners of the
animals selected. Tissue tags will be supplied to the participants for this purpose. The
selection of animals will be based on a genotyping plan developed by the ICBF.
The number of animals to be genotyped each year will be equal to 60% of the number of
calved suckler cows that the applicant had on his/her holding in 2014 i.e. the applicant’s
“reference animals” to which I referred earlier. For example, an applicant with 15 reference
animals in 2014 must have sufficient animals to genotype 9 animals in each year of the
programme, without repetition.
This increased level of genotyping improves the reliability of the breeding indexes and,
importantly, ensures the identification of sufficient numbers of 4 & 5 star females required
by BDGP herds.
Requirement 4 – Replacement Strategy
The replacement strategy relates to both the stock bull and the female replacements
introduced into herds during the 6 year programme. In order to achieve the objectives of
improving the genetic merit of the national herd and lowering the intensity of GHG
emissions, it is vital that we not only identify the appropriate animals, but that we also
incentivise the use of these animals in farmers’ breeding strategies. This requirement is,
however, phased in over time.
Male replacement
The requirement for farmers using a stock bull is that at least one of the bulls on the holding
on 30th June 2019 must be a genotyped 4 or 5 star bull on either the terminal or
replacement index. Where it is replaced in the following 12 months, it must be replaced by
a bull of equivalent genetic merit.
6
For those using AI, at least 80% of the AI used must be from 4 or 5 star bulls on either the
Terminal or Replacement index from 30th June 2016.
Farmers renting bulls for breeding must, from 30th June 2016, use bulls that are 4 or 5 star
on the terminal or replacement index, either within or across breed. Such farmers must, of
course, inform DAFM of their intention to use a rented bull, and should ensure compliance
with animal health and movement legislation, including a requirement for a pre-movement
test for TB and BVD.
Female replacements
The requirement for female replacements is that, by the end of the scheme, the number of
4 and 5 star cows on the participants herds must be at least equal to 50% of the number of
reference animals advised to the farmer at the start of the programme.
For example, a farmer with 20 calved suckler cows in 2014 must have ten 4 or 5 star females
by 31st October 2020. These animals must be at least 16 months old so as to ensure they are
being retained on farms and must be 4 or 5 stars on the replacement index at the time of
purchase (for heifers brought into the herd) or at the time of genotyping (for those
replacements bred within the herd). There is also an intermediate target of 20% for 2018.
A considerable amount of analysis has been undertaken to ascertain the availability of these
female replacements in the coming years. Many farmers are already well on the way to
meeting the requirement for 4 and 5 star animals. Analysis undertaken by ICBF of the 2014
Beef Genomics Scheme has indicated that some 30% of herds are already compliant with
the requirement for female animals in 2020 i.e. that the number of 4 and 5 star heifers are
equal to 50% of the reference animals on each farm.
All farmers will receive comprehensive training, and ongoing information and advice to
assist them in introducing the required breeding strategy. Of course, these requirements
will take time to introduce and this is why a 5 year lead-in time has been included in the
design of the programme.
7
Requirement 5 – Carbon Navigator
The fifth element is the Carbon Navigator which is an online farm management package,
produced by Bord Bia and Teagasc. It quantifies the environmental gains that can be
made on each applicant’s farm by setting targets in key areas. It is a very useful and
simple tool which allows individual farmers to look at changes which can be made on their
farm in areas such as the length of the grazing season or their average calving rate, and
then illustrates what that change would mean in terms of reduced GHG emissions from
his/her herd and the increased profitability associated with such a change.
The first completion of the Carbon Navigator must be undertaken in conjunction with
an approved advisor, the cost of which will be covered separately under the RDP.
Participants must also submit data annually to allow for an update of the carbon navigator.
Requirement 6 – Training
The final element of the programme is the training course to be delivered over the next 16
months or so. In order to deliver on the objectives of the BDGP and to work with each
individual farmer to identify their breeding needs, it is vital that the participants receive
dedicated training and advice. The 4 hour training course will cover:

The individual requirements of the scheme;

The importance of data collection and maternal breeding traits;

The optimal use of breeding indexes and;

The linkage between breeding and carbon efficiency at farm and national level
The cost of the training will be covered separately under the RDP and farmers will receive
€166 to cover their costs of participation.
8
Conclusion
The BDGP involves an investment of €300 million in addressing some of the key challenges
facing the beef sector in Ireland . Some 30,000 farmers have applied for the scheme at this
point and the programme is likely to be fully subscribed.
I would like to thank you for your time and patience, and would be happy to provide any
further detail of clarification you deem useful.
ENDS
9