Irish Simmental Yearbook 2022-D 2 - Flipbook - Page 17
IS THE CBV A GAME CHANGER?
t their virtual beef conference in
December, Teagasc launched the
new Commercial Beef Value (CBV)
index. Some may question the need
for another index given our beef sector
already has three in the form of the Replacement
Index, Terminal Index and the Dairy beef Index.
I think that the new index is the most relevant for
the majority of the beef sector.
A
The existing indexes are designed for breeding
decisions, but every year 80% of the calves born
will never breed! There is little point evaluating
these animals on reproductive traits when they will
never reproduce. This is where the CBV comes
in. The index is designed to give an indication of
the genetic merit of an animal to 昀椀nish based on 5
traits:
•
Carcass weight
•
Carcass conformation
•
Carcass fat
•
Docility
•
Feed intake
This will obviously be helpful when selecting calves
from the dairy sector, but I also see great potential
when purchasing weanlings and stores from both
the dairy and suckler sector. Prior to this the only
information (other than physical examination) as to
the terminal potential of an animal was the Sire’s
breed and more recently the Dam’s breed, which
is available at some sales. Having a genetic based
evaluation that cuts through simplistic breed-based
expectations, to give an evaluation on an animal
that accounts for contribution of both the Sire
and Dam should help the top terminal genetics of
all breeds come to the fore. It should also assist
in identifying where an animals performance is
being assisted by environmental reasons such as
overfeeding or a holiday in the rushes.
Traditionally farmers have purchased sires of a
particular breed because they expect the offspring
to be more saleable. This should change breeding
decisions as farmers should start buying sires that
will produce offspring with higher CBV rather than
selecting sires that look good “on the card”.
Irish Simmental Yearbook 2022
15