Opening Remarks to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Opening remarks to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine on the Beef Data and Genomics Programme

Tuesday 16th June 2015

Thank you for providing the opportunity to update you on developments in relation to the Beef Data and Genomics Programme.

The Programme was launched by Minister Coveney on 5th May last. It ispart of Ireland’s Rural Development Programme 2014-2020. It involves funding of some €300 million over the next 6 years and builds on the State’s investment in data recording and genomics in recent years.

It will address widely acknowledged weaknesses in the maternal genetics of the Irish suckler herd,make a positive contribution to farmer profitability and reduce the the Greenhouse Gas intensity of Ireland’s beef production.

Suckler beef sector

Beef accounts for 35% of the gross output of the agriculture sector. It is arguably the most important primary agriculture product in Ireland at farm level. Beef exports in 2014 amounted to 524,000 tonnes, worth €2.27 billion.

Ireland exports 90% of its beef. We are the biggest net exporter of beef in the EU and the 5th biggest in the world. In addition to Beef exports, Ireland also has a strong live export trade to Europe and beyond with over 236,000 live animals exported in 2014at a value of over €172million.

The suckler herd is a critical component of the industry. It is beef from the suckler herd that has principally enabled us to succeed on international retail markets. It is important, therefore, that policy at EU and national level recognises the challenges and opportunities facing suckler beef farmers, and provides the infrastructure to help it to respond and thrive in this environment.

Some of the Challenges

There is a clear profitability challenge on suckler farms. This is not a new phenomenon. The 2014 Teagasc National Farm Survey showed that cattle rearing farms had an average family farm income of just over €10,000 and that for many suckler farmers the income they receive from direct payments exceeds the income they receive from the market.

In addition, the impact of livestock production has become a critical part of the international debate on climate change. While the production of beef in Ireland has a low carbon footprint relative to somecompetitors, in Ireland the agriculture sector accounts for a high percentage of our overall emissions. Positioning Ireland in the international market place as a producer of high quality, environmentally sustainable beef, through initiatives like Origin Green, has been a central part of Bord Bia’s marketing and promotion strategy on international markets.

In its October 2014 conclusions on the EU’s Climate and Energy Framework to 2030, the European Council recognised the need to meet rising global demand for food in a way that is environmentally sustainable, and committed the EU Commission to examining how to encourage the sustainable intensification of food production.

Improving the genetics of the suckler herd can make a positive contribution in all of these areas. Research from Teagasc and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation shows that the suckler herd faces significant breeding challenges at present. The sector has been successful in breeding animals for terminal type traits such as carcase weight and carcase conformation in response to market demand for high output beef animals. However, there has been less concentration on maternal efficiency traits such as fertility and milk yield which are equally important for producing good weanlings and improving profitability.

On average, Irish beef farmersproduce only 8 calves for every 10 suckler cows, and this trend has not been improving. The interval between calving has been expanding and is now well in excess of 400 days. This is going in the wrong direction and the reality on the ground is well beyond the target of one calf per cow every 365 days. There are similar concerns in relation to other measures such as the age at first calving and the weight of calves at weaning.

Policy Response

The BDGP is a response to these challenges. It provides targeted support to suckler farmers. It builds on the success of the state’s investment of over €9 million in the Beef Data Programme in each of 2013 and 2014, and on the success of the pilot Beef Genomics Scheme which involved investment of around €23 million last year.

The BDGP will enhance our knowledge and understanding of the national herd through increased data collection and genotyping. Farmers can then utilise this information to retain the best type of animal as replacement heifers for breeding. The rationale for the scheme is based on the relationship between carbon and economic efficiency at farm level.

By producing animals more efficiently in terms of fertility levels and milk yields, the beef sector can benefit on the double;

• firstly through an improvement in the profitability for farmers from producing weanlings or finished animals and secondly,
• through a reduction in the amount of Greenhouse gases emitted in the production of these animals.

Agri-environment and climate measure

The BDGP is the first measure of its kind anywhere in the EU. It’s has been approved by the EU Commission under Article 28 of the Rural Development Regulation, which deals with Agri Environment.

Programmes approved under this Article are required to comply with certain requirements:

• Firstly,paymentsare based on the cost incurred and income foregone in carrying out the programme. This is a principle which applies to RDP schemes generally. Any modification or deletion to the actions in the programme would of course result in a corresponding reduction in payments;
  
• Secondly, commitments must, under the regulation, be for a period of five to seven years. The BDGP requires a 6 year commitment by the scheme applicant and this is matched by a corresponding commitment from Government to provide a stable and guaranteed payment to applicants over that 6 year period. There have been some concerns expressed regarding this 6 year commitment and, as a result, Minister Coveney has signalled a number of flexibilities regarding exit during the 6 year programme. I am happy to go into these in more detail later if the Committee wishes.
  
• All agri-environment measures are required to be paid on a per hectare basis.

Payment Model

Participants in the BDGP will receive a payment of €142.50 for the first 6.66 hectares and €120 for each hectare thereafter, up to a maximum payable hectarage. This is equivalent to approximately €95 for the first 10 calved cows, and €80 for each additional calved cow. Participants will also receive an additional €166 to attend a training course linked to the programme.

The maximum payable hectarage is calculated by dividing the number of calved cows in the herd in 2014 (the reference amount) by a standard stocking rate of 1.5 calved cows per hectare. On the basis of this stocking rate, the vast majority of farmers have far more land than they require to obtain the maximum payment under the scheme.

Almost half of farmers have a stocking rate of 0.5 or less and 90% have a stocking rate of less than 1. For example, a farmer with 10 cows and a stocking rate of 0.5 will have 20 hectares, but will require less than 7 of these for the full payment under the scheme.

Scheme requirements

In return for this payment, which is calculated on a cost incurred and income foregone basis, the participant will be required to undertake 6 actions, many of which are already known to and well understood by participants in last year’s beef data and genomics schemes.

Requirement 1 – calving details

Participants must complete a calving ease survey for each calf born on the farm using what is known as the “Animals Events Sheet”. This is in addition to normal tagging and registration requirements and can be completed on-line or through the animal events book provided by the ICBF. Farmers are familiar with this requirement which is exactly the same as was required under the Beef Data Programme over the last two years.

Requirement 2 – Surveys

The second action involves the completion and submission of survey forms in respect of the cows, calves and stock bulls on the farm. The data submitted will relate to criteria such as milking ability, docility, calf size and calf vigour. This is vital information for the database behind the breeding indexes which are developed by the ICBF and will strengthen the robustness of breeding advice provided to farmers. Again, this requirement is the same as that already undertaken by farmers who were in the Beef Data Programme in recent years, albeit with some additional information now required.

Requirement 3 – Genotyping

The requirement to genotype animals on farms was the central component of the pilot Beef Genomics Scheme last year. The only difference under the BDGP will be the increase in the percentage of animals to be genotyped, but this is matched by an increase in payment. As with last year’s scheme, the proportion of the payment to the farmer absorbed by genotyping costs is expected to be approximately 15%.

The ICBF will select animals to be genotyped in each herd and will notify owners of the animals selected. Tissue tags will be supplied to the participants for this purpose. The selection of animals will be based on a genotyping plan developed by the ICBF.

The number of animals to be genotyped each year will be equal to 60% of the number of calved suckler cows that the applicant had on his/her holding in 2014 i.e. the applicant’s “reference animals” to which I referred earlier. For example, an applicant with 15 reference animals in 2014 must have sufficient animals to genotype 9 animals in each year of the programme, without repetition.

This increased level of genotyping improves the reliability of the breeding indexes and, importantly, ensures the identification of sufficient numbers of 4 & 5 star females required by BDGP herds.

Requirement 4 – Replacement Strategy

The replacement strategy relates to both the stock bull and the female replacements introduced into herds during the 6 year programme. In order to achieve the objectives of improving the genetic merit of the national herd and lowering the intensity of GHG emissions, it is vital that we not only identify the appropriate animals, but that we also incentivise the use of these animals in farmers’ breeding strategies. This requirement is, however, phased in over time.

Male replacement

The requirement for farmers using a stock bull is that at least one of the bulls on the holding on 30th June 2019 must be a genotyped 4 or 5 star bull on either the terminal or replacement index. Where it is replaced in the following 12 months, it must be replaced by a bull of equivalent genetic merit.

For those using AI, at least 80% of the AI used must be from 4 or 5 star bulls on either the Terminal or Replacement index from 30th June 2016.

Farmers renting bulls for breeding must, from 30th June 2016, use bulls that are 4 or 5 star on the terminal or replacement index, either within or across breed. Such farmers must, of course, inform DAFM of their intention to use a rented bull, and shouldensure compliance with animal health and movement legislation, including a requirement for a pre-movement test for TB and BVD.

Female replacements

The requirement for female replacements is that, by the end of the scheme, the number of 4 and 5 star cows on the participants herds must be at least equal to 50% of the number of reference animals advised to the farmer at the start of the programme.

For example, afarmer with 20 calved suckler cows in 2014 must have ten 4 or 5 star females by 31st October 2020. These animals must be at least 16 months old so as to ensure they are being retained on farms and must be 4 or 5 stars on the replacement indexat the time of purchase (for heifers brought into the herd) or at the time of genotyping (for those replacements bred within the herd). There is also an intermediate target of 20% for 2018.

A considerable amount of analysis has been undertaken to ascertain the availability of these female replacements in the coming years. Many farmers are already well on the way to meeting the requirement for 4 and 5 star animals. Analysis undertaken by ICBF of the 2014 Beef Genomics Scheme has indicated that some 30% of herds are already compliant with the requirement for female animals in 2020 i.e. that the number of 4 and 5 star heifers are equal to 50% of the reference animals on each farm.

All farmers will receive comprehensive training, and ongoing information and advice to assist them in introducing the required breeding strategy. Of course, these requirements will take time to introduce and this is why a 5 year lead-in time has been included in the design of the programme.

Requirement 5 –Carbon Navigator

The fifth element is the Carbon Navigator which is anonlinefarmmanagementpackage,producedbyBordBiaandTeagasc. It quantifiestheenvironmentalgainsthatcanbemadeoneachapplicant’sfarmbysettingtargetsinkeyareas. It is a very useful and simple tool which allows individual farmers to look at changes which can be made on their farm in areas such as the length of the grazing season or their average calving rate, and then illustrates what that change would mean in terms of reduced GHG emissions from his/her herd and the increased profitability associated with such a change.

ThefirstcompletionoftheCarbonNavigatormustbeundertakeninconjunctionwithanapprovedadvisor, the cost of which will be covered separately under the RDP. Participants mustalso submitdataannuallytoallowforanupdateofthecarbonnavigator.

Requirement 6 – Training

The final element of the programme is the training course to be delivered over the next 16 months or so. In order to deliver on the objectives of the BDGP and to work with each individual farmer to identify their breeding needs, it is vital that the participants receive dedicated training and advice. The 4 hour training course will cover:

• The individual requirements of the scheme;
• The importance of data collection and maternal breeding traits;
• The optimal use of breeding indexes and;
• The linkage between breeding and carbon efficiency at farm and national level

The cost of the training will be covered separately under the RDP and farmers will receive €166 to cover their costs of participation.

Conclusion

The BDGP involves an investment of €300 million in addressing some of the key challenges facing the beef sector in Ireland . Some 30,000 farmers have applied for the scheme at this point and the programme is likely to be fully subscribed.

I would like to thank you for your time and patience, and would be happy to provide any further detail of clarification you deem useful.

ENDS

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