Dr. Andrew Cromie:

I will deal with some of the technical questions that have been asked with regard to the star ratings and the impact of the scheme. The objectives of the scheme, as pointed out initially, are to address some of the serious challenges that we had in the suckler herd relating to key metrics such as calves per cow per year. There were serious concerns from a climate and environment perspective as to the future of the suckler cow. It is a scheme that was implemented in 2015 with a strong focus on genomics, genetics and the benefits of that as a technology to drive productivity and sustainability improvements, and the outcomes have been very significant. We have turned this issue around. Akin to the challenges in the dairy industry with milk and fertility which Senator Lombard talked about, the correlation has to be broken between these two sets of traits that are going in opposite directions, the terminal traits and maternal traits. We did a great job through using visual, and growth, and things we can easily see as breeders and people who are in marts, relating to these visual traits, growth and confirmation.

The challenge we have when we look at an animal is whether that animal will transmit genes for female fertility, for milk, for feed intake and efficiency, and for health and disease traits. These are the unseen traits that a technology such as genomics and an understanding of the DNA help us with. If we look at the outcomes of the scheme, calves per cow per year across the industry within the scheme herds has gone from 0.8 to 0.87. That is an extra 70,000 calves in the system which, if one reflects it across an industry with an average value of €1,400 or €1,500 for an animal slaughtered, is €100 million of additional income for farmers in an industry that is very challenged in that regard.

The question for us is whether we can improve that productivity around the maternal traits and not lose the terminal traits. That is at the core of concerns expressed here today, that we are seeing the quality of the suckler herd, animals coming through to marts and to the meat processing sector, declining. The Charolais Society referred to this earlier in its submission. As my colleague Mr. Coughlan noted, the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation, ICBF has independent data, it has no vested interest in this whatever. We are there as an organisation to manage the data and compute independent genetic evaluation on behalf of all the shareholders, herd books, artificial insemination, AI, companies and farmers across the industry.

Bord Bia's annual review, published in January, shows that the average carcass weight of steers has dropped by 4.5 kg. Immediately, people took the view that was because of a decline in the quality of the suckler herd, linked to the Beef Data and Genomics Programme, BDGP. That is simply not correct. The decline that happened between 2016 and 2017 is completely driven by an increase in dairy-bred steers, beef and dairy steers, coming from an expanding dairy herd into the processing industry. The key data on that shows that in terms of beef animals, the average carcass weight has gone from 379 kg to 386 kg. Carcass weight is increasing in our three quarter bred suckler beef population. Over the same period, the age of slaughter in our suckler beef herd has declined by 20 days, so we are getting more carcass weight at a younger age and at no loss in quality. Carcass confirmation has remained at R=R+ for three-quarter bred suckler steers. These are the facts in the data that comes to the ICBF data base via the meat processing industry. We have shared the data with Bord Bia which it uses in its communication across the industry.

The issue of declining carcass weight and grade is happening but it is a consequence of the expanding dairy herd, it is not some impact of the BDGP on the suckler herd. What we are getting is more carcass weight at the same grade.

On Deputy Cahill's question about the price per kilogramme in the marts, we are getting more of these calves. That is the key productivity driver. The scheme is winning in that regard.

I also draw the members' attention to a very important piece of independent data from an on-farm validation study that Teagasc has just undertaken. It cuts to the core of why ICBF recommends that a scheme would be hooked to these Euro-Star indices. There were 45 farms involved in this study over the previous three years, 2015 to 2017, inclusive, where we have weighed their cows and calves annually. I have given members a table which shows their replacement indices on the farms when the scheme started, including the new replacement females that are coming in. The idea of the scheme is to try to give some level of surety to farmers that if they are going out to buy a group of heifers or are bringing in heifers based on the stars, that on average those heifers will deliver in profitability and sustainability. Naturally, there will be one or two heifers or bulls in the group that will deviate beyond the expectation but it shows how the average of the group has performed.

Deputy Fitzmaurice asked us to explain the table a bit more. It is positive that these 46 herds have more four-star and five-star cows; some of them are better farm herds or various Teagasc herds. However, if we look at the average age of first calving of those heifers, it is 36 days younger - they have a shorter calving interval. Senator Lombard asked about the whole breeding programme and Charolais. These cows are lighter but they are weaning a heavier weanling. This is the principle of more from less which is completely consistent with what we are trying to achieve in this scheme. Critically, those weanlings are moving on to finishing farms and are being slaughtered at a higher carcass weight, an extra 13 kg, and at a younger age. That is independent of whether they go to a farmer that is feeding an intensive finishing system at half a tonne of meal or a more extensive system. On average the five-star animals are getting to a higher carcass weight at an earlier age.

If we return to one of the key requirements of the scheme, the question is whether these cows can do that and produce less methane. That is the challenge for the suckler cow. Our goal is 1 million suckler cows and I am on the record saying that we are absolutely committed to the suckler beef herd and driving genetic gain within it. I will return to that in terms of the dairy-bred influence. In this scheme, we must present that these five-star cows are more climate efficient than the suckler cow that we know across Europe and that we want to keep in Ireland. Those cows produce less methane than the one-star cows. The reason is that there is a direct correlation between cow size, dry matter intake and methane output. It is a biological fact. Bigger cows eat more and produce more methane. If we can have smaller cows, not so small that they will not have a decent calf - a 660 kg cow can produce a weanling of 311 kg, producing a carcass weight at 374 kg - then we will have a more profitable industry.

On the idea that this is in some way promoting the use of dairy-bred stock, before the scheme started, 26% of our replacement females were first processed from the dairy herd, now the percentage of first crosses from the dairy herd in the scheme is coming in annually at 23%. The perception that farmers are going out and buying first crosses from the dairy herd to meet the scheme requirements are simply not factually correct. The data from marts that we hold in the database independently verify that. All this data is open, transparent and available for further interrogation.

About 9% of bulls are currently cross-bred. It is not a decision taken by ICBF, it was a decision made by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine many years ago. ICBF's position on the matter is that we do not want to support cross-bred bulls. The beef data genomics programme promotes genetic improvement within the breeds. The percentage of cross-bred bulls in BDGP herds is less than 1% so the scheme is working in that regard. If we look at the 15,800 stock bulls that are in BDGP herds, 200 are cross-bred bulls with progeny. That is because as part of the scheme we have been very focused on getting farmers to understand that we need to start trying to identifying stock bulls and AI bulls with the terminal traits as well as these maternal traits of female fertility, age of first calving, etc.

Farmers will ask how we do that and the answer is the within-breed breed improvement programmes we operate. Mr. Coughlan has referred to the committees we run. There are three meetings a year to try to generate genetic gain within the breeds. We encourage the farmers. They get a four-hour training course at the start and we tell them to use genotype four and five star pedigree bulls. That is the advice we give because that is where the best outcome will come from. It has worked. Fewer than 200 bulls in the scheme are cross-bred. That is another good example of how the scheme is working positively. When we look at the number of bulls being traded, it has actually increased over the course of the scheme. Of course, farmers are focusing more on the four and five-star requirement, but that is also because suckler farmers are starting to see the benefits of being in the scheme. Whether they buy in bulls or use AI, they are coming back and seeing it in their four and five-star females.