Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 13 December 2023
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Recent Reclassification of Beef Indexes: Discussion
Mr. Sean Coughlan:
It is world-leading research. The critical point to remember on that methane data is that it is gathered on an indoor system for the finishing period. It is critical that we actually get the life cycle. We need to know what the methane data is on the growing animals, on the cow at grass and on the lactating cow, so we need to have the full picture before the methane data will come in there. In regard to the impact I will let Dr. Crosson deal with that question in terms of the impact of the financials because that is what the model actually does. In regard to the feed conversion efficiency, that is included in the index. The critical point is that there are two components, the input component which is the feed intake, namely, how much does an animal eat, and then the output in terms of how much carcase does that animal produce. They are the two. That is where the feed intake is. We are not measuring feed intake in terms of live weight gain. We are measuring feeding intake in terms of the output of carbons. I will pass over to my colleague on the financial impact.