Mr. Nevan McKiernan:

I thank the committee for giving us the opportunity to appear before it today on behalf of the Irish Charolais Cattle Society, ICCS. The first issue we would like to discuss is the beef data genomics programme. Our first major concern is the volatility of the Euro-star indexes. This is resulting in a decline in the quality of our beef cattle.

It also allows the acceptance of cross-bred bulls as stock bulls within the scheme, which is something that breed societies cannot accept. Moreover, going back generations, I do not think the people who came before us would accept it. There has been a lack of communication from the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation, ICBF, since the scheme was introduced. I also will refer to the ICBF board of directors. We would also like to highlight the issues around beef and the suckler herd versus the dairy herd. There are herd and human health issues involved in that regard. I also will discuss the negative impact it is having on the environment and will have on the environment, as well as the animal welfare issues.

In respect of the volatility of the Euro-Star indexes, it is very hard to explain in a short period of time the problems with this index and how they move. The basic requirements of the scheme are that the females must be genotyped at least three or four stars on the replacement index to meet the requirements. Stock bulls must be genotyped at least four or five stars underneath the terminal or replacement index to meet the requirements of the scheme. These indexes change three timers a year. Even after genotyping, these indexes can change more than €80 on the index. That can move an animal from a five-star to a one-star. One can imagine proceeding to pay a big price for a five-star replacement mix heifer today, and in two years' time she is down to a one-star.

For example, Glostermin Lady Heather is but one of many I could have picked. The reason I picked her was because the sire for her was subsequently owned by Mr. Michael O'Leary of Gigginstown Angus, the Ryanair chief. The father was a three-time all-Ireland champion. He is a reliable artificial insemination, AI, bull. If you look at her replacement index, it is explained in simple terms. In May 2016, she had a replacement index value of €120. She cost a lot of money when she was purchased, like many others. In May 2017, she was down to €94. Today, she is minus €9. She dropped over €100 and she does not even meet the requirements of the scheme today.

In another example, in April 2016, a list of AI bulls was sent around to the breed societies. The breed societies showed their concern about the index and how they were moving. They brought this to the attention of the ICBF at a beef industry meeting. There was one bull for example, Lanigan Red Deep Canyon, which had a replacement index of €269, one of the highest across all breeds. Today his replacement index value is €147. When genomics was first included in his index, he dropped from €269 to €155. When this was seen by the breed societies and in respect of numerous other bulls I could list, ICBF and whoever else was involved in the beef data and genomics programme, BDGP, railroaded the scheme through in September 2016 and went ahead with release of the indexes with the inclusion of genomics, despite the breed societies having stated that there would be serious problems with doing this.

To explain in simple terms, the indexes were introduced as a tool and are a very useful tool when selecting and buying livestock. They are only a guide and a guide is all they can be. They cannot be linked to a scheme. The ICBF does great work and I do not want to take that from it. The federation produces a lot of good reports for farmers. The indexes, however, cannot be linked to a scheme. What it has resulted in is the decline in quality of our beef cattle. No matter what anyone says, the quality of our cattle is declining.

How is this happening? Our pedigree breeders are being forced to use reliable bulls because if they do not use highly reliable bulls they are taking the chance. That is because if they go to sell their stock they will not be able to sell them, because the figures will have dropped. As a result, we are all using the same blood lines. It does not make sense from a pedigree point of view and for the customers or suckler farmers we are selling to. Suckler farmers are then being forced to buy high replacement mix heifers from the dairy herd, which is all they can do. We see there are 750 farmers in the BDGP scheme who will not meet the requirements of the scheme at the end of this year. There are another 700 who will barely cross the line. What are they going to do? They have to go out and buy high index replacement females coming off the dairy herd. That is their only choice. If they do not, they will not meet the requirements.

The influx of high-index replacement females from the dairy herd is increasing the numbers of O and P grade cattle. The facts are there to show that.

In September 2017, a review was done of the quality of cattle going through the factories. Almost two of every three steers were classified as being Os or Ps. There was a 100% increase in P grade steers compared to the same period in 2012. O grade animals were up 20%. R and U grades declined by 35% and 26%, respectively. The same trend can be seen for heifers across the board. This trend will continue as long as there is a dairy influence on our beef herds.

A number of points made by 15 different mart managers from around the country support this. We asked them a simple question, namely, had the quality of cattle going through their marts improved or disimproved over the past three years. All 15 different mart managers say the same thing and I can pass these findings over to the committee for review. They will all say the quality of cattle going through the marts is deteriorating at a rapid rate that has never been seen before. It is plain to see that if we keep following the line we are on now., a country that was once known for producing top-quality beef cattle will soon no longer have that reputation.

The next point to examine is the acceptance of cross-bred bulls as stock bulls. I do not how this got passed in any scheme. Would a cross-bred stallion be allowed on a purebred mare? Would this be allowed for dogs? For years we have built up pedigree cattle to have a great reputation in the UK of producing quality cattle and we sell cattle to France but now, we are allowed to use cross-bred bulls in a BDGP scheme. Farmers were once penalised for having these stock bulls on their farm. Is it really genetic improvement we are engaged in or are we just trying to introduce or cause a decline in the quality of stock coming off our beef herds? We are told it is a Department rule and a number of times, I have asked whether it is a Department rule that cross-bred bulls are accepted in a BDGP scheme. At minimum, all stock bulls must be 100% pedigree.

On the lack of communication from the ICBF, as I have said already I am not here to run down the ICBF but I have to tell the truth of the matter on what is happening since the BDGP scheme was introduced. There no longer are beef industry meetings yet there are ongoing dairy industry meetings. There was no meeting of the ICBF held for over a year. There was no documentation kept of meetings or minutes kept. Breed societies want clarification on how the indexes were being calculated to understand them as, if we do not have this understanding, how will our breeders and suckler farmers throughout the country understand them or even meet the requirements of a scheme? The breed societies have requested a booklet explaining genomics. This booklet arrived yesterday, after having looked for it for more than a year.

Where do we start and how can it be fixed? As a breed society and as suckler farmers as a whole, the issue regarding the ICBF board of directors needs to be addressed. I have listed the board of directors and its composition and presented it to the committee. The number one matter is that there are six representatives from one AI company, yet we have six or more different smaller AI companies in the country. One AI company has a six-member representation on the board of ICBF, that is, Progressive Genetics, Munster AI and NCBC, all of which are under NCBC. One man represents 15 different breed societies. There are four members on the board from the Irish Farmers Association. We are told that the board is made up of representatives who are elected based on the number of shares that the organisation they represent has in ICBF. We would like to ask how many shares did the IFA have in ICBF? Is it appropriate that one AI company hold six directorships on the board when no other AI company has any? Is it appropriate that one man represents 15 different beef breed societies?

When we raised these issues, we were asked what did we propose. What we would like to see is a premium introduced for animals that are reared in the suckler herd. It goes without saying that animals coming from the suckler herd are reared naturally on their own mothers and are finished naturally. Animals that come off the dairy herd are reared in sheds from the day they are born. They are taken off their mothers from the day they are born and put in and fed processed food to replace their mother's milk. The increase of Johne’s disease in the dairy herds surely has to be a concern for us all, as we know its link to Crohn’s disease in humans.