25 March 2025

Breeding strategies to enhance herd sustainability, profitability and efficiency

In an effort to ensure breeding strategies are implemented to enhance herd sustainability, profitability and efficiency, all dairy farmers will receive a copy of the ICBF and Teagasc Breeding Guidelines in the post over the coming days.

As the 2025 dairy breeding season approaches, dairy farmers have been urged to begin planning their breeding strategies with the goal of breeding dairy cows that are healthy, efficient, carbon friendly while producing higher-quality calves for the beef industry. To support this, ICBF and Teagasc have developed essential breeding guidelines to help farmers maximise their herd’s potential.

This breeding plan should encompass elements such as:

• The Economic Breeding Index (EBI) – a breeding tool for maximising profitability and accessible through the ICBF Herd EBI Scorecard, from where a herd’s strengths and weaknesses can be identified;
• The use of a well-balanced team of high EBI AI bulls from the Active Bull List team of dairy AI bulls – through either sexed or conventional semen;
• Using the Dairy Beef Index (DBI) Active Bull List to select the right beef bulls based on their maximum beef sub-index, calving ease, short gestation and high carcass merit, and setting the calving difficulty threshold suitable for the cow group (e.g. heifers, first calves, second calvers or mature cows);
• For those aiming to generate dairy heifer calves for 2026, farmers are encouraged to incorporate some level of sexed semen usage into their breeding strategy. Farmers should:
• Use at least two high-EBI sexed semen straws per required dairy female.
• Prioritise insemination in the first three weeks of the breeding season.
• Focus on maiden heifers, younger cows (lactation 1-4), and earlier calving cows (January/February).
• Ensure AI is timed optimally—14 to 20 hours post-onset of standing heat.

Breeding tools such as the HerdPlus Sire Advice Tool should be considered, which will allow farmers to manage inbreeding and improve both dairy and beef matings; breed more balanced females in terms of milk production and fertility; and enhance beef merit while minimising calving difficulty risks.

Additionally, farmers now have the opportunity to breed cattle that are less likely to become TB reactors. By selecting cows and bulls with the highest EBI and the lowest TB breeding value, herds can improve resilience against TB. Bulls with a breeding value below 8.5% are recommended, with those under 6.5% offering even faster improvements. ICBF has introduced a traffic light system to simplify interpretation, highlighting the top 30% in green and the lowest 30% in red.

For more information and guidance on breeding strategies for 2025, visit the ICBF website.

Breeding Week 2025

The breeding season on Irish dairy farms has become increasingly concentrated in the late April to June period. The purpose of Breeding Week is to provide timely reminders to farmers on important genetic and technical issues underpinning a successful dairy breeding season.

Details of the events taking place throughout Breeding Week