Dairy Council NI: Bovine Genetics Project ‘a groundbreaking initiative’

Momentum continues to build behind the preparations being made to launch a new Bovine Genetics Project (BGP) in Northern Ireland.

The initiative will be launched at this year’s Balmoral Show.

BGP comprises two complimentary work streams.

The first is a National Genotyping Programme, delivering a full genetic profile of every dairy and beef breeding animal in Northern Ireland with the same information produced for every calf born after September 1, 2026.

Making this happen will require a tagging process, courtesy of which a bespoke tissue sample will be produced.

In tandem with this, all the genetic information generated on each animal will be specifically evaluated with the core aim of improving individual herd breeding programmes across the dairy and beef sector.

ICBF will oversee the evaluation process while also providing specific analytics for the beef sector, while AHDB will provide the relevant genomic evaluations complied for the dairy industry.

Significantly, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) will fund the genotyping of every breeding bovine animal in Northern Ireland and the subsequent first calf crop they produce.

Funding will also be provided by DAERA to fund the genetic evaluation work undertaken for a 10-year period.

DCNI

Dairy Council for Northern Ireland (DCNI) chief executive, Ian Stevenson, believes BGP can make Northern Ireland a renowned centre of cattle breeding.

He explained: “All of this adds to a groundbreaking initiative, which has the potential to make Northern Ireland a centre of world excellence, from a cattle breeding point of view.

“DAERA has approved a total capital budget of £60.5 million for BGP.

“However, it is worth noting that many cattle breeding specialists are confirming that a commitment on the part of suckler and dairy farmers to invest in bespoke genotyping and the associated genomic assessment of the breeding stock would pay for itself many times over on a purely economic and standalone basis.”

Livestock in a field Factory, farm payments Beef kill Met

Adding to the significance of BGP is the fact that it will be coordinated by a unique partnership involving key agricultural industry stakeholder groupings, the Sustainable Ruminant Genetics (SRG).

The four organisations represented on the board of SRG are:the Ulster Farmers Union (UFU), DCNI, the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC) and the Northern Ireland Meat Exporters Association (NIMEA).

Stevenson said: “BGP will deliver five important outcomes for our dairy and beef sectors.

“These include a significant improvement in production and efficiency levels.”

The DCNI chief executive expects to see an improvement in animal health standards across both industries, “which will manifest itself as a reduction in the disease levels impacting on our herds”.

“The outworking of BGP will also lead to a strengthening of the environmental outcomes achieved by our dairy and beef sectors while allowing them to achieve their relevant legislative and supply chain objectives,” Stevenson said.

“Improving efficiency levels is hard-wired into all of the processes associated with BGP.

“Moreover, this objective is synonymous with the attainment of a more sustainable agricultural industry.”

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