Get rid of them as fast as you can. It is transmitted through the milk and also the dung. They will not get better but will gradually start to deteriorate, may take a few years but will spread it in the meantime.
It'll just be an extra gift for the calf buyer. They already ignore the stars.
I genotype all my fr heifers and I'll probably keep doing my own thing.
I gave up genotyping a few years ago- I also stopped sending hair samples back if I didn’t like the mother of the calf- started using international bulls again and low and behold when I genotyped some bull calves this year for my own use out of cows I liked not based on ebi the results come back tru the roof- does this mean that the ungenotyped herds are actually much higher than the genotyped herds
The genotype will eventually help make the case that we are doing something about climate change IMO
I think there's EU money from some Brexit fund being drawn down to pay for the genotyping. Or at least to pay for it for now.
There's been plenty talk about Irish farmers not getting anything from the Brexit fund and it looks like genotyping is as much a mechanism to draw down funds (and plenty juicy admin work for Dept and ICBF) as it is to help farmers.
It also ticks a box for "improving the beef genetics" of the growing dairy beef sector. It may or may not have any impact when the scheme leaves the theory of the spreadsheet and meets reality on the ground.
The climate crowd won't give a shitte about genotyping. They want to rewet/ rewild the land and depopulate the herd.
You talk about people not having a clue what it’s about yet you don’t know that ICBF couldn’t care less whether a bull is a mongrel mix of ten breeds or a pedigree bull as long as it has the stars and figures. They actually discourage the use of one two or three star pedigree/purebred beef bulls and encourage the use of 4/5 so called scrub bulls. The “quality” of the bull doesn’t matter as long as it has the mythical star and figures. You’re in for a rude awakening when ICBF start telling you which of your heifers you can and can’t keep.
Had a really nice cork lady from that organisation looking for 200 euro of us each for 4 International bulls my ai company had brought in, she hounded us for two weeks ringing about paying it, was the law etc, blocked her number and stopped paying my icbf membership after that and haven't heard a dickie bird from them since their a shower of clowns, ai company had already payed genomic testing fees and import licences they just wanted to make it more awkward again by hitting the farmer aswell in the pocket
They don't but we need to be able to make some counterargument against all cows are bad argument and this will be it
You can keep whatever heifers u want just leave the money behind you Very simple and ye can stop complaining 👍
That money she wanted was to get an AI code for the bulls. They tried the same with me but I told them it was the AI companies job to pay for the AI code. I was only paying for the straws. Anyway the AI company who imported the straws sorted it out. You should check on the ICBF website if the bulls you used have an AI code, if not you wont be able to get the calves cards for the calves next year.
What’s that rant all about …..I’m a lot further along line than most here in that I’ve my full herd done …..I was asked to contract mate 3 of my cows this year …was all for it till I saw the yokes they wanted me to serve them to ….high ebi young genomic bulls that when I started to look into back pedigrees I wouldn’t take a present of
in all fairness, the beefs lad have been bent over a barrel by the icbf and there 4/5 stars.
I wouldn't agree with that, the BDGP was originally introduced to stop beef farmers from always breeding for the terminal attributes. By incentivising farmers to breed for maternal attributes you ensure that later generations have cows that are fit to rear a calf. If you keep breeding for terminal attributes you'll run out of road sooner rather than later
Isn't that what high SCC cows are for😉
Ya I couldn't agree more talk about getting it sideways when put over the barrel 👀👀😱😱
Right so. It's another money making racket with IFA Heads at the top of the board. And at the end of the day it will be taking money out of my pocket and put it in a senior executives pocket somewhere?
Look I know there is a type of farmer who can't get enough of sheets of paper. They walk around the yard semi solid at the taught of their next ICBF diary coming in the post. But will this put more money in my bank account?
I don't know if this still applicable but if you use a 5 star bull on your diary herd, the heifers are automatically 5 stars, remember when 5 stars kya came out and teagasc/icbf were recommending suckler farmers to go for these animals as replacement, we had a few calves by him out strong bf/hol cows and talk about screws of animals. Another instance, where a friend of mine bought a 5 star limo for big money, and a week after buying him, he dropped to 2 stars so he rang the breeder looking for his money back and take away the bull and low and behold he was a 5 star bull in the evening. No more than ebi, there is no consistency with the 5 star system and how do you expect it when they are no visual inspection of animals
"Semi solid" love it..... New one on me
You don't have to do it.
You don't have to worry for those how want to do it.
Oh my friend are you new to farming? All the schemes start off with the carrot and end up with the stick.
And it will be a stick to beat us with down the road. The beef barons would not be funding it otherwise. It must be a money making racket because the IFA are stuck in it.
They coax a few easy lads in the crush first .
Great to see rte being shown up for the dishonest bunch of shites they are.
I joined the johnes scheme, found it very helpful. Not everyone was made join it, although it would be very beneficial to some lads. Each to their own. The bvd scheme failed due to it not being compulsory to get rid of positives early on, lads thinking they'd still make money on them, whilst the positives spreading it, greed on the farmer's part ruined it
Had a bull catch pneumonia last week. His temperature hit 40 but was injected straight away. He was perfect again that evening. Is it true that the temperature hike might not effect his semen quality for 6 weeks?
Yes raised temperature can cause infertility but not always, had a calf down with some sort of pneumonia last week, vet hadn't much hope but she pulled through (so far anyway)
Thinking myself it was some form of sunstroke.
yes its true. happened here a couple of years ago. he will be bulling away but to no good.
I think I read before of bulls in a train carriage and it was 3 weeks after the infertility hit due to the heat in the carriage.
Jaysus🙄🙄
Ya, it'll probably end up compulsory like all the sh1t they are sneaking in through derogation and then onto everyone else. The whole thing is beyond a joke at this stage.
So you think he is infertile straight away or do you think it takes a few weeks before he goes infertile?
