#shoutaboutthesire is a campaign that has been launched by AHDB at the British Cattle Breeders Conference. Working with Hybu Cig -Cymru, #shoutaboutthesire delivers Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) that link traits that the commercial farmer will get paid for such as carcass quality and finishing time. At present only 23% of sires are registered on the passports. Amy Fawcett, AHDB Knowledge Exchange Manager said “it was disappointing to find out there are additional two million abattoir records that cannot be used to generate EBVs… for the farmer, this means they are missing out on having access to EBVs for traits that they could potentially make money from.”
This campaign will not only help with the suckler herds but with the beef sire to dairy as some bulls will have more potential to produce a calf that is more profitable when entering the beef supply chain.
The project uses data collected from the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS), abattoirs and breed societies. The information collected to establish the new carcass trait EBVs are:
- Carcass conformation
- Carcass weight
- Fat class
- Days to slaughter
- Average daily carcass gain
Knowing the EBVs will pass on the genetic potential to his calves so when take into consideration the key points when purchasing a bull or choosing an AI sire.
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