Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 14 May 2019

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Future of the Beef Sector: Discussion (Resumed)

Mr. Martin Ryan:

I am just confirming that this is the case. In one of the Vice Chairman's comments in that regard, he mentioned the percentage. As it stands today, one is looking at somewhere in the 20% area, depending on what part of the country one is in, to meet the specification and to get a quality bonus for a Friesian breed cow, whereas for Angus it is probably 50% and for Hereford it is around 60% in terms of meeting the O= or better. It is extended for that two-year period to 100% with the objective of pushing to breed better cattle from the dairy herd and to use a much higher percentage of beef sires on the dairy herd.