Things to consider for the 2025 Breeding Season

EBI:

The EBI comprises of eight sub-indexes, each with an emphasis percentage, representing the average contribution of each sub-index to the overall breeding index. Milk production and fertility are the two most valuable indexes. For example, the milk sub-index constitutes 32% of the EBI. Different traits measure each sub-index, and these traits are multiplied by economic values to generate a Euro value. These Euro values are then summed to generate an overall EBI figure. The EBI of dairy females continues to increase by €10 each year, which equates to €2,000 extra profit on farms with 100 cows. Details of the eight sub-indexes and all the traits in the EBI are presented in this graph.

Herds in the Top 20% on the EBI are delivering +51kg MS per cow, have better fertility (-14 days calving interval, +12% 6 week calving) & produced 0.09kg lower CO2e than the average herd. Equivalent to €331 more per cow (assuming €6.50/kg MS) or €33,000 for the average herd.

Sire Selection:

As the breeding season approaches, it is now time to start thinking about your 2025 bull selection. It is important to select a team of bulls that suit your herd, whilst maximising the genetic benefits. Replacement heifers should be bred from the highest EBI (Economic Breeding Index) cows in your herd. All other cows should be bred to beef. Like using the EBI, the sub-index needs to be examined within the DBI (Dairy Beef Index) and a balanced bull should be selected. Bulls with similar DBI can result in very different calves and greatly affect commercial beef values. An easy calving bull is desired, but also a bull with good carcass performance to ensure calf quality. It's crucial to breed calves that can be easily sold next spring. Sales all over the country indicate that it's harder to sell beef calves of lower quality.

For further information on the current ICBF Active Dairy Bull List please see Here & for the Active Beef Bull List please see Here.

Sexed Semen:

Sexed semen can be successfully used to increase numbers of dairy female replacements born and to reduce the number of dairy bull calves born. Early calving younger cows or maiden heifers are most successfully bred to sexed semen. Sexed semen is one of the key measures dairy farmers can take to help reduce our methane emissions for the dairy herd. Sexed semen will reduce our reliance on conventional dairy semen, and allow us to increase the use of high beef merit semen on the dairy females, leading to higher CBV (Commercial Beef Value) calves in the marts – increased profit for the dairy farmer and the beef farmer has a calf with a reduced age to slaughter, and less inputs in its lifetime. 

Bull Fertility:

March is the ideal time to prepare the bull for the upcoming breeding season. Ensure he is in good physical condition and free from any signs of lameness. It's highly recommended to have his fertility tested, a service offered by many veterinary practices and specialists. A bull with suboptimal fertility can result in more empty cows and delayed calving next year.

Breeding for TB Resistance:

Genetic resistance is a measure of an animal’s ability to fight off infection due to its genetic makeup. This means that farmers can breed cattle that are less likely to become TB reactors. Farmers are advised to select cows and bulls for breeding that have the highest overall index as well as the lowest breeding value for TB resistance. To view the TB breeding values for individual animals in your herd, simply look at their health sub-index.

To improve TB resistance, herds should aim to use bulls with a PTA (breeding value) of less than 8%. For more rapid improvement, use bulls of less than 6.5%.

High EBI does not guarantee favourable genetic resistance to TB. Bull A above has a high EBI, but ranks as one of the worst bulls available for TB resistance. Bull B has a similar (but lower EBI) which produces progeny with more favourable genetic resistance to TB.

Select high EBI bulls with a lower TB breeding value (PTA) to improve genetic resistance in your herd.

Avoid nutritional upsets:

Underfeeding causes Body Condition Score (BCS) loss which impacts fertility performance. It’s vital to feed the cow enough energy in early lactation or she will lose too much BCS in the 1st 8 weeks after calving, not reach peak milk production and fertility performance will be reduced. Due to challenging grazing conditions and in poor silage quality in some instances, cows are not getting sufficient energy in their diets which is reflected in the continued increase of fat % and reduction in protein %.

First Published 19 March 2025