Limousin WHPR Breeder – Doreen Corridan, Roundhill, Fedamore, Co.Limerick
As a breeder, I welcome the WHPR (Whole Herd Performance Recording) system and have signed u my herd. I see it as a way of overcoming our current lack of data. This will result in more accurate indices making the identification of superior sires for pedigree and commercial breeders easier. Look at what is happening in dairying; 5,000 of the best bull calves are genotyped at birth each year and 50 of the top are then purchased for AI, I would love to see that happening in beef.
As breeders, we are struggling at the moment to identify sires which will maintain the beefing ability necessary for the marketplace and improve milking ability, calving ability & calving ease in addition to qualifying for the BDGP scheme when the progeny come to be sold.
Commercial beef and dairy herds are reliant on the pedigree beef herds for their supply of beef stock bulls. Pedigree breeders realise this responsibility and will respond to the market demands as they have in the past. This was clearly demonstrated by the increased carcass quality and carcass weight in the past number of years when the export sector demanded it and paid for it.
The BDGP scheme probably came two years too early, as beef genomics was in its infancy and time was extremely short for herd -owners to understand and use genomic indices once they became available. The low availability of medium to high reliability sires which qualified for the scheme without compromising of beefing qualities posed challenges for pedigree breeders. However any scheme that will improve the profitability and sustainability of beef farms long term and put money into herd-owners pockets short term has to be welcomed.
“The focus needs to be firmly on the collection & analysis of large volumes of accurate data.”
Two of the main benefits of being in the WHPR program are: 1. Increased Buyer Confidence, 2. Increased Index reliability %
- Increased Buyer Confidence
- Pedigree Breeders taking part in the WHPR program are voluntarily getting their whole pedigree herd independently assessed by ICBF annually. Measurements and weights are recorded on all pedigree animals. Participating herds also receive spot check visits from ICBF, to validate the herd’s data.
- Farmers going to purchase bulls either privately or at a sale, naturally enough, want to have the most up-to-date and accurate index information available to them
- A bull purchased with a ‘WHPR’ stamp will have been at least weighed by ICBF. This data will be publically displayed by ICBF so a purchaser is fully aware of all available data before making a purchasing decision.
- €uro-Stars & Reliability %
- The more Pedigree Breeders that get their herd’s performance recorded, the more accurate the whole €uro-Star system becomes for everyone.
- Scoring & Weighing will increase the reliability % of an animal’s €uro-Stars.
- The €uro-Stars of low reliability animals are more likely to change.
More information on Roundhill Limousins can be found here https://www.facebook.com/roundhill.pedigreelivestock