“We exist to benefit our farmers, our agri-food industry and our wider communities through genetic gain. We do this by developing and applying science and technology to ensure that our farmers and industry make the most profitable and sustainable decisions”.

ICBF are a growing organisation of around 90 employees spread across 8 teams that cover everything from genetic evaluations and farmer support to software development and finance. Our vision in ICBF is to empower sustainable farming through collaboration and excellence in genetics and big data solutions. Presently, we have the largest beef genomics database globally and were the second country to launch dairy genomics.

For more information on our story, check out this video which goes through the last 20 years of ICBF. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt9kbSjSCY4

We at ICBF find ourselves in a unique position as we maintain the national database for which all data is held on bovine animals in Ireland. The flow of data to and from this national database can be seen below. Ultimately, the data is gathered from a variety of sources within the industry and is then used to produce information for farmers and industry partners. This leads to profitable and sustainable decision making at farm level.

Our main function at ICBF is to ensure genetic improvement in bovine animals across Ireland. Genetic improvement can be identified as when the parents of the next generation are genetically superior to their contemporaries. This process happens through:

• The identification, ancestry, and quantitative data on those traits of importance for large numbers of animals in each generation.
• A genetic evaluation system to identify the genetically superior animals in each generation. 
• A breeding programme design that ensures the required data is available, and that farmers use genetically superior animals in each generation.
• Well informed farmers and industry partners who willingly provide data from their own farms/businesses and make full use of the information services provided by ICBF, and its service providing partners, in their breeding and farm management decisions.

Our subscription service, HerdPlus is used by over 24,000 dairy and beef farmers Ireland. The information stored in the ICBF database is compiled into various profiles, reports and applications that can be used to aid in the decision-making process. HerdPlus is a tool that can benefit everyone no matter what the breeding goals.

We are delighted to attend this year’s E-Conference. The renowned conference affords an opportunity to listen to industry experts in the dairy and beef sectors as well as networking opportunities with attendees and speakers alike. Its success can be seen year on year by the numbers in attendance from the UK and further afield.

Feature Supplied by ICBF - BCBC would like to thank ICBF for their support of the 2021 Virtual Conference