Is your herd meeting its BDGP targets?

The new BDGP eligibility profile will quickly tell you whether or not your herd is meeting its BDGP obligations.

Herds participating in BDGP are required to meet a number of requirements on certain key dates. These include female targets of 20% (Oct 2018) and 50% (Oct 2020), a stock bull target (June 2019) and the AI target which runs until the end of the programme. Each participant in the BDGP should continuously monitor where their own herd stands in relation to these targets.

BDGP Eligibility Profiles

You can access a new profile through your ICBF account which gives a live, fully up to date picture of your herd’s current status on the BDGP requirements. You can access this profile by following these steps:

  • Go to the ICBF website (icbf.com).
  • Login to your ICBF account via the online services section using your username (herd number) and password.
  • Once logged in, go to the ‘View Profiles’ dropdown.
  • ‘BDGP Eligibility’ will be the first option in this dropdown.

The landing screen of the profile gives an overview of the female, stock bull and AI requirements. It is also colour coded with green highlighting compliance and red highlighting areas where the herd is non-compliant (figure 1).

Figure 1. Eligibility profile overview. The colour coding highlights a herd’s compliance/non-compliance on the various requirements.

There are three further tabs in the eligibility profile which give more detail on females, stock bulls and AI bulls.

The most imminent target deadline date for BDGP herds relates to those using a stock bull. For herds using a stock bull, it is required to have at least one eligible bull in the herd on the 30th June 2019. Again, the eligibility profile will tell you whether or not your stock bull is eligible. Where a stock bull has been genotyped and is ineligible, this bull will have to be replaced with an eligible bull prior to 30th June. Where a bull is ineligible as it hasn’t been genotyped yet, a sample will need to be taken from the bull and returned to the lab no later than 30th June. To order a hair sample please call ICBF on 023-8820452.

If you are unsure as to where your herd stands in relation to the BDGP requirements, accessing this profile will give you a very clear picture. If you do not have access to a computer or if you have any questions about the BDGP requirements, please call ICBF on 023-8832883 or email [email protected].