BRITISH CATTLE BREEDERS CONFERENCE EXPLORES 'HERD OF THE FUTURE' THEME

How can farmers breed herds that are fit for the future?

This was the question raised at the annual British Cattle Breeders Conference held in Telford 20-23 January 2025. Farmers need to spend more money on genetics and there must be a greater availability of sexed beef semen if farmers are to meet environmental targets while continuing to meet production demands.

AHDB CEO Graham Wilkinson addresses the conference

Graham Wilkinson, CEO of AHDB, told delegates at the 2025 British Cattle Breeders’ conference that global beef consumption would increase by 10% by 2032. Genetics holds the key to unlocking this growth while reducing livestock emissions, delegates agreed.

However, on average, UK dairy farmers are spending 0.6-0.8ppl on genetics. This accounts for just 1.5-2% of the cost of production. Consultant Andrew Thompson, questioned if this was enough: “Genetics has a 50% influence on gross margin potential, and you choose to spend 1.5% of cost of production on it?”

Genetics – a good return on investment

Cheshire dairy farmer Andrew Rutter said that little else offered such a good return on investment on his 400-cow dairy unit. He has raised the Profitable Lifetime Index(£PLI) from 65% to 5% within his own herd. Based on one £PLI improvement being worth £1, he calculated this equated to £230,000 in improved margin over the herd’s lifespan. “Paying for the best bulls is the best use of our money,” he said.

Mr Thompson said great genetic progress had been made in the past 7-8 years. He added nowhere else in the world had adopted sexed semen at the pace of GB farmers, with AHDB data showing sales of sexed semen increased to 84% up to April 2024. Together with the targeted use of beef semen, Mr Thompson said sexed semen had reduced carbon output and improved beef calf income.

Beef sector improvements

However, in the beef sector, progress is being halted owing to the poor availability of sexed semen, warned Professor Jonathan Statham, chief executive of RAFT Solutions. As part of an Innovate UK-funded project, he calculated changing the proportion of male and female calves born from 50:50 to 80:20 in favour of males could lower farm emissions by 14 tonnes annually while increasing beef output by 3 tonnes on a 100-cow suckler herd. The model showed improvements were driven by faster finishing of bulls and larger carcass weights. At the same time, Professor Statham said using targeted maternal genetics delivered a 10% improvement each year through improved cow longevity, fertility and earlier calf weaning. “The potential is big, but the availability of sexed semen is a challenge in the beef sector. We need a wide range of sexed semen available in all breeds with all the genetic traits we want,” urged Professor Statham.

Delegates to the three-day conference heard from beef farmers using artificial insemination to fast track genetic gain. Perthshire suckler farmer Neil McGowan uses mostly AI sires on his 50-cow pedigree Simmental herd. He also runs 150pedigree Luing cows. He selects maternal traits to produce heifers that get pregnant in six weeks as yearlings, calve at two, and then rebreed within nine weeks while nursing calves. He told delegates: “If something needs to be done, we cannot wait for policy to change, or we shouldn't blame the market or the breed society. “If you're the breeder, you're in charge, and you just need to do the right thing and get started.”

Technological advances

Conference attendees learned how technological advancements would help improve health and welfare to maximise the genetic potential of animals. Professor Andrew Dowsey from the University of Bristol unveiled a pioneering artificial intelligence (AI) system. It uses a network of cameras to identify individual cows by their unique coat patterns and algorithms are being created to track subtle changes in social behaviour to detect disease before symptoms are visible. It is hoped a prototype will be available by 2026.

BCBC chairman Andy King said: “There are a lot of tools in the toolbox to help support the herd of the future, to meet the challenge of feeding an ever-increasing population whilst treading lightly.”

REVISED IN-BREEDING ADVICE FOR DAIRY CATTLE PUBLISHED

Inbreeding advice revised for dairy cattle

The target for dairy producers to maintain inbreeding at less than 6.25% has been called into question following the extensive analysis of data both internationally and in the UK.

The target was set many decades ago in order to limit the undesirable effects of inbreeding depression, which sees an animal’s performance decline as inbreeding increases, particularly in traits such as health and fertility, and inevitably in milk yield too.

However, in today’s dairy population, attempts to limit a herd’s inbreeding coefficient to 6.25% have become unrealistic if dairy producers wish to make genetic progress.

Speaking at this week’s British Cattle Breeders Conference, Marco Winters, head of animal genetics for AHDB said the industry has been alert to this dilemma for many years and keeps a constant watch on the levels and effects of inbreeding across the national herd.

He says there is a fine line to tread between making genetic gain and avoiding excessive inbreeding, but that the historically important figure of 6.25% has little relevance today.

“Producers should keep an eye on inbreeding within their herds but if they strive to maintain their average at 6.25% or below, they could seriously compromise their genetic gain and therefore their future herd efficiency,” he says.

A study by AHDB has demonstrated this clearly, revealing that if the 6.25% inbreeding threshold were enforced, in most cases – even using the best matings – the Profitable Lifetime Index (£PLI) of the offspring would be lower than that of the dam. In other words, genetic improvement would go backwards.

Only matings of the very lowest £PLI dams – these generally being in herds which have not engaged with genetic improvement – could result in genetic gains in the next generation while keeping within the threshold.

“In reality, keeping within the 6.25% threshold would mean many producers could not breed from their best genetics,” he says.

However, in spite of this, the performance of dairy cows today is far better than in the past across a wide range of traits, including those for health and welfare. Much of this is attributed to genetic improvement brought about by farmers’ use of genetic tools and their proven ability to make desirable genetic selections.

He says: “In the commercial dairy population, where farmers are selecting for improvements in traits such as fertility, lameness and cell counts, they are actively countering the effects of inbreeding depression.”

On average, UK producers have driven an increase in PLI of £52 per head per year, which far outweighs the accompanying inbreeding losses in terms of performance and profitability.

Historic v recent inbreeding

Furthermore, he says there’s another syndrome at play which results from historic inbreeding as opposed to that which has happened in more recent years.

“Studies from around the world, including by AHDB, have demonstrated that historic inbreeding could be conferring benefits as repeated positive selection over many generations has helped purge undesirable traits,” he says.

However, despite the positive outcomes from historic inbreeding, he warns against allowing it to run away, as inbreeding depression will always exist.

“Inbreeding should definitely be a consideration by today’s breeders whose particular focus should be on reducing its rate of increase in their own herds. 

“This means using your team of bulls to give the lowest inbreeding outcomes, avoiding matings between close family members and using breeding programmes and the AHDB Inbreeding Checker to flag the best and worst matings,” he says.

Genetic diversity

The loss of genetic diversity through inbreeding is also a potential concern but is said to be less so than many propose.

“Genetic variance is important as without it, we can’t make genetic improvement,” he says. “Equally, there is a concern that a narrowing gene pool may raise the susceptibility of a population exposed to an unforeseen challenge.

“However, our evidence indicates that the gene pool is just as diverse as it was 30 years ago and there is no sign of genetic improvement reaching a plateau.”

Equally, the uptake of genomic testing provides more accurate and biologically meaningful inbreeding coefficients than in the past, while also identifying animals carrying undesirable recessive genes, which can be readily excluded from breeding programmes.

He acknowledges there may be a place for gene banks to preserve diversity but says this is more of an insurance for an unforeseen future than something to tap into today.

“Just because something might happen at some point in the future does not mean we should allow fears about inbreeding to compromise genetic improvement,” he says. “The farmer runs a business, not a zoo. We need to make sure it is sustainable.

“This means making sure the next generation is better than the last. It may or it may not be able to withstand some unforeseen risk at some point in the future, but a business which stands still – genetically or otherwise – will not be in business to find out.”

AHDB Inbreeding Checker

Producers who would like to check the inbreeding level of any proposed mating can do so by using the AHDB Inbreeding Checker. First, they need to register for the Herd Genetic Report and then follow the link ahdb.org.uk/inbreeding-checker

FIND AN EXPORT HEALTH CERTIFICATE (EHC)

In our Winter & Summer Export Bulletins, we publish details of new Export Health Certificates (EHCs) that have been agreed between the UK and target country to facilitate trade. As an example, after several years of negotiations and communications between the UK and Ecuador, the Market Access team, VTF (Veterinary Trade Facilitation) and UKECP (UK Export Certification Partnership) have been successful in agreeing an export health certificate for bovine semen to Ecuador. We hope that this will see agreements developing across the region for bovine semen and other commodities.

To find the export health certificate (EHC) and supporting documents you need to export a live animal or animal product like food and germplasm, please consult the www.gov.uk website or click HERE. The latest versions of the certificates are always here.

Recent new and updated EHCs for breeding animals and germplasm include:

• Bovine semen to Ecuador, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Botswana, Nepal & Indonesia

• Bovine embryos to Isle of Man & Australia

• Ovine semen to Argentina

• Ovine and caprine in vivo derived embryos and oocytes to USA

• Ovine and caprine semen to USA