Calving difficulty: a system reboot

Revamp will see figures based on type of animal being mated — differentiating between cow and heifer, beef and dairy

Update: Farmers will be able to make more informed breeding decisions with a calving difficulty figure that's more specific to the animal being mated - ie whether the bull is mated to a heifer or a dairy cow

Ciaran Moran

For the first time in 20 years, changes are being made to how the calving difficulty of a bull is calculated.

Dr Ross Evans told the ICBF conference last week that while the longevity of the current system has underlined its success over the last two decades, a number of weakness identified has seen the ICBF move to make changes.