The Commercial Beef Value (CBV) is a new tool for non-breeding beef farmers which will give them a better insight into an animal’s genetic merit. It comprises five traits from the Terminal Index that are important to a non-breeding drystock enterprise:
- Carcass weight
- Carcass conformation
- Carcass fat
- Docility
- Feed intake
The CBV is expressed as a € value like the Replacement and Terminal Indexes with both ‘within breed type’ and ‘across breed’ star ratings. There are three ‘within breed type’ categories:
- Suckler (beef sire and beef dam)
- Dairy x Beef (one dairy parent and one beef parent)
- Dairy x Dairy (dairy sire and dairy dam)
The ‘within breed type’ star rating will rank animals within that breed type. Farmers often have a set enterprise in terms of the type of animal they buy i.e. continental suckler weanlings, dairy x beef store heifers, Friesian bull calves. The ‘within breed type’ star rating will help farmers to identify the highest genetic merit animals within the breed type of interest to them.
The CBV is now available to farmers through their ICBF HerdPlus login under the ‘View Profiles’ section (see image below). It will also be displayed in marts from early 2022.
