€20,000 Prize Fund for Dairy EBI €100 Competition
The 2006 EBI €100 competition, which rewards improvement in dairy breeding, was launched today, Tuesday 9 May. The competition focuses attention on better breeding of dairy cows to lift farm profits and with its top prize of €10,000 aims to attract the countries elite commercial dairy herds. Organised by Teagasc in association with ACC Bank, ICBF and the Irish Farmers Journal, the total prize fund has doubled to €20,000 this year.
Speaking at the launch of the competition, Matt Ryan, Teagasc Dairy Programme Manager said, “Clear evidence is emerging of the association between the Economic Breeding Index (EBI) and farm profit. Our farm analysis shows that lifting herd EBI by our target of €5 per year is associated with an increase in common profit of approximately €650 on the average farm. Over a period of five years this increase in herd EBI could be worth approximately €10,000 to the average herd through better milk production and higher fertility.”
ACC Bank has once again agreed to be the main sponsors of the competition. Paddy Horgan, National Agri-Business Manager with ACC Bank said, “We are pleased to continue our association with this competition and recognise EBI as an important means of lifting dairy farm profitability. In this years competition we have included a special development category for a competitor making significant progress in aiming to increase their herd EBI. We hope that our sponsorship of the competition will continue to raise awareness of the value of the index to Irish dairy farmers.”
Andrew Cromie, Irish Cattle Breeding Federation, said, ‘The EBI combines milk production, fertility, calving and beef merit and recently health traits in one economic index. The EBI of the national herd is now €32. Our geneticists have shown that a sustained annual increase in herd EBI of greater than €5 is possible. The top herds in last years competition are comfortably achieving this - indeed a sizeable number of herds has an EBI of more than double the national average. Breeding your dairy herd to high EBI bulls will result in a more profitable herd of dairy cows’.
Ten regional finalists will be selected for the finals, from Munster, Leinster and Connacht/Ulster regions. The overall winner will receive a cheque of €10,000, three regional winners will each receive a cheque of €2,500 and the winner in the development category will receive a cheque of €2,500. The closing date for receipt of application forms is Friday June 9. Application forms for the EBI €100 competition are available from local Teagasc offices, ACC Bank Business Units, ICBF and the Irish
Farmers Journal.
Further information available from George Ramsbottom, Dairy Specialist, Teagasc, Oak Park, Carlow, Mob. 087-2708973.
