Dr. Andrew Cromie:

Yes.

I would like to return to the issue of being confident that we have enough animals. Deputy Ó Cuív made a point about the level of uptake and asked whether farmers will fall out of the scheme. It is important for everyone to grasp the data from our latest analysis of the 30,000 herds that are now in the scheme, which showed that 80% of the bulls in 20,000 herds have stock or breeding bulls which means they are eligible, as per the requirements of this scheme. That means 20,000 herds are using breeding bulls and the remaining 10,000 use AI, which is generally used by smaller herds. That data shows a positive message.

Senator Comiskey raised the issue of communicating statistics. I can tell him that 80% of the bulls are eligible as per the current terms and conditions of the scheme. Let us look at the replacement strategy which has left a lot of farmers feeling nervous. Earlier the Senator said his herd report showed that he had only one four or five-star cow out of 24 cows. The comparable figures for the 30,000 herds that are now in the scheme is that 61% of them are eligible and meet the 2018 requirement of having 20% of the herd comprised of four and five-star females. In addition, approximately 38% of herds are already compliant with the 2020 requirement.

We see these as very positive figures. At the end of the day, responsibility lies with the ICBF now and in the next few weeks. There has been some discussion about the reports and the pack that will be sent to the 30,000 herdowners; we will communicate a picture of their herds, including their stock bulls, cows, young stock and the Euro-Star status of the animals, directly to them.

One of the challenges - probably the biggest one we faced in the context of the scheme - was the lack of knowledge of many participants on the current status of their herds. That they were entering a scheme with incomplete knowledge created nervousness among farmers. When we look at the number of herds on the ICBF HerdPlus system, the genetic evaluation or report service we use, about 10,000 of the 30,000 herd owners are receiving these data.