Herdplus users guide by ICBF

Beef HerdPlus

Beef Herdplus User’s Guide Beef Herdplus is a Beef Cattle Breeding Information Service which contains facts & figures about animals in your herd, covering all aspects of performance from calving to slaughter. Beef Herdplus benefits greatly from being at the centre of the ICBF Cattle Breeding database. This database has very deep banks of animal breeding data.

Farmers will have recorded a certain amount of information on their own animals throughout the year e.g. Calf Registration, Weight Recording, Insemination data etc. Their cattle will also have data recorded on them by other people & organisations, all of which will have been stored in the ICBF database.

Irish Suckler Farmers engage with many different Organisations over the course of an animal’s lifetime on their farm. Like any business, farmers are continually trying to track the progress of their herd so as they can make the best possible decisions.

The Herdplus program has pulled all of this information together and has produced easy to follow reports from which farmers can easily gauge how their animals have performed and also allow them to compare their herd’s stats to national average figures. Joining Herdplus gives you access to these reports, web screens and applications.

Alyssa, Jim & Estelle Parkinson – avid users of the Beef Herdplus Service.

Kevin Downing (ICBF) explaining the Herdplus service to a farmer at the Ploughing.

Mary Murphy (ICBF) with ICBF Weighing Technicians Eddie Heslin & Aidan Connell at a Tully Open Day.

A large crowd attended the IGA Beef summer tour co-sponsored by Beef Herdplus & IFAC. (Photo: Irish Farmers Journal)

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Beef HerdPlus Joining Beef Herdplus • An application form to join Beef Herdplus can be found online at www.icbf.com or can be requested by calling 1850-600-900. • The cost is €60/year. After you join Beef Herdplus you will be texted a Username & Password. This allows you to access your Herdplus information through the computer. This is very useful for running the various applications. • However, not having access to a computer is not a barrier to using Herdplus. The main Beef Herdplus reports are posted out to all members during the year.

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Logging In • Enter www.icbf.com in your internet browser bar. You then need to enter your Username & Password as shown below and then click on Login.

Getting your Password • If you have forgotten your Password you can get it texted to your phone by texting the word ‘Pass’ to 089-4577663. • If your mobile number is not registered with ICBF you will get a text telling you this. • You should then ring Herdplus (1850-600-900) and register your mobile number with ICBF.

Enter your Username This is your herd designator – first seven digits of animal tag including the IE e.g. ‘IE1234567’.

Enter your Password

Click ‘Log in’

Beef HerdPlus Finding your way around the Herdplus Homepage • The Herdplus menu screen below is the next screen that you will see after you log in. • The latest Cattle Breeding news is shown on the ICBF Facebook page.

• Click on the menu buttons to look at the various reports that have been created for your herd. You can also run applications that will generate new listings & reports for your herd. The layout of the Herdplus homepage below will change in 2015 but the format of all of the reports and applications described in this section will not change

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Reports

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Applications

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Beef Herdplus Reports & Applications Purpose It analyses your herd’s calving performance for important performance indicators such as ‘Calving Interval’ & ‘Calves per cow per year’. €uro-Star Report This report gives an overall summary of the genetic makeup of your herd as well as listing the individual animal €uro-Star values for breeding animals in your herd. Suckler Cow Report Each cow’s: Registration, Ancestry & €uro-Star information is displayed. All progeny out of that cow are also listed. A new index page has been added to the front of the report. Bull Tracker Report This report will show you how a Pedigree Bull that you owned or bred has performed in the years after it was sold in terms of the quantity and quality of stock that it sired. Dry-Stock Report This report gives details as to what the genetic merit of your cattle are for being slaughtered.

Name Calving Report

Of most interest to Suckler Farmers (Pedigree & Commercial) Suckler Farmers (Pedigree & Commercial) Suckler Farmers (Pedigree & Commercial) Suckler Farmers (Pedigree & Commercial) Dry-Stock Farmers

Weight Recording Report Slaughter Report

Suckler & DryStock Farmers Suckler & DryStock Farmers Suckler Farmers (Pedigree & Commercial) Suckler Farmers (Pedigree & Commercial) Suckler & DryStock Farmers Suckler & DryStock Farmers Suckler Farmers (Pedigree & Commercial) Suckler & DryStock Farmers Suckler & DryStock Farmers Suckler & DryStock Farmers Suckler & DryStock Farmers

This section allows you to record on farm weights for your animals. A report will then be generated which gives average daily gains and future predicted weights for stock. This report analyses the slaughter records of your cattle in terms of their Lifetime value per day in your herd. 5 Year Trend Report This report tracks your herd’s progress for important traits over the past 5 years. This section allows you to edit your contact details (phone, email, etc.) as well as herd authorisations. It also allows you to run the HDQI (Herd Data Quality Index) for your herd. Record Events The 'Record Events' section allows you to record data on your animals e.g. missing sires, weight data,Inseminations, Within herd ID's etc Stock Report This calculates the average number of animals in the herd each month. It also calculates the Kgs of Nitrogen & Phosphorus produced in the herd. Useful for accounts and nitrates. Inbreeding Checker This allows you to check how closely related AI/Stock bulls are to your cows. A tag number or AI code can be entered and run against all cows with known ancestry in your herd. Sales Catalogue This application allows you to generate a sales catalogue for any animals in your herd. Herd Info

Teagasc Profit Monitor AHI - BVD Results

DAF Schemes

It allows you generate the ICBF data that is required by the Teagasc Profit Monitor. This section allows you to view all of the BVD results and generate official AHI declaration certs for all animals in your herd and also for those that have left your herd. These sections allow you to record data for DAF schemes. It also shows you what data you still need to record in order to comply with the rules of a National recording scheme.

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Beef HerdPlus Herdplus Reports 1 Calving Report • This report makes it clear what aspects of your herd’s calving performance needs attention.

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• The black bar is your herd’s performance & the grey bar is the average performance of all other herds in Ireland. • The report also tells you what the average figures for the top and bottom 15% of herds are.

Beef HerdPlus • This section gives a further breakdown of your herds calving performance.

• You can compare the current year’s calving pattern with the previous as well as number of months with a calving, breakdown of calving survey data, calving interval, etc.

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Beef HerdPlus • An action list is also included which identifies cows with poor calving intervals.

2 €uro-Star Report • The €uro-Star report identifies the overall strengths and weaknesses of your herd. • The genetic merit of your herd can also be compared against national average figures.

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€uro - Star Report Summary Page:

Beef HerdPlus €uro-Star Report Animal Page:

• €uro-Star details for the Overall indexes are given for all animals with a known sire, both pedigree and commercial.

Suckler Cow Report • The Suckler Cow Report is a booklet which devotes a page to each Suckler Cow in your herd. • Each cow’s registration, ancestry & €uro-Star information is displayed. • All progeny out of each cow is also listed together with summary performance information.

• It is designed to give Suckler Farmers a reference book that they can use before making a culling or breeding decision. • An index page has been added to the start of the report for ease of use.

Cow ‘470’ with her calf ‘811’ at foot.

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Beef HerdPlus The new index page gives a brief overview of the herd.

Each cow can be found quickly with the page number reference.

You can look through your herd at a glance with the index page. Cow 470 in this herd can be found on page 6 of the report.

• 8 year old SI x LM cow after 7 calves. • First calving at 24 months. • Avg. Calving Int. of 368 days.

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3 daughters retained in herd for breeding.

Very high Replacement Index of €299 with excellent figures for milk and fertility.

Excellent weight gains expressed by calves.

Excellent carcasses from slaughtered progeny.

Beef HerdPlus 4 Bull Tracker Report • This report will track how a Bull has performed in the years after it was sold by its breeder, in terms of the quantity and quality of stock that it sired. • This report will also be of interest to commercial suckler farmers who want to compare progeny of different stock bulls against each other.

• It is made up of an Index and an Individual Bull section. – The Index section (see below) will list all of the Bulls that were ever in the herd and which have had calves registered to them in the ICBF database over the previous 5 years – The Individual Bull section (see below) dedicates a full page per bull, giving details as to the performance of each Bull’s progeny (calving performance, average daily gains, slaughter grades, etc.)

• Index page gives an overview of past and present bulls in a herd • 4 current stock bulls in this herd with a total of 564 calves. • 8 past stock bulls with a total of 978 calves.

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Beef HerdPlus Carwin Clicker • Weighed 550Kgs at 9 months old (ADG 1.8 Kgs). • Sired 195 calves to date. • Weanlings have growth rates up to 1.24 Kgs/Day. • Carcass results of progeny averaging 378Kgs & U=3+. • 5 Star Bull for Terminal & Replacement Indexes.

Carwin Clicker at work in the herd of Robin & Ann Talbot, Ballacolla, Co. Laois.

Slaughter Report The Slaughter Report analyses the slaughter records of your cattle in terms of their lifetime value per day. Their carcass records are also compared against national average figures.

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Beef HerdPlus Herdplus Applications 9

Herd Info

• This section allows you to edit your contact & mobile phone details. It also allows you to create a sales catalogue and run the HDQI (Herd Data Quality Index) for your herd.

10 Record Events The ‘Record Events’ section allows you to record data on your animals. E.g. Missing Sires, weight data, inseminations, within herd ID’s etc: • • • • • • • •

Suckler Sire Errors Dairy Sire Errors Record AI/Natural Service Record Pregnancy Diagnosis Record Dry Offs Record Health Events Mark for Culling Record weight event

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Record Freezebrand/Stockbull Within Herd ID Record Sire Errors Record Missing Sires Record Body Condition Score Record Missing Slaughter Data Record Birth Events Record Animal Purpose Record Suckler Cow Survey

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Beef HerdPlus 11 Stock Report • The Stock Report calculates the average number of animals in the herd each month. It also calculates the Kgs of Nitrogen & Phosphorus produced in the herd. • The Stock Report has proven to be a very valuable report for helping with end of year financial accounts. Stock Report:

Nitrates Report:

12 Inbreeding Checker • The Inbreeding Checker allows you to check for how closely related AI Sires or stock bulls are to your cows. • Matings between animals that are too closely related are highlighted in red.

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Beef HerdPlus AHI – BVD Results

DAF Schemes • National Data recording schemes (e.g. BTAP, BDP) can be accessed through your Herdplus login. • Following is an example of the Beef Data Programme screen which can be used by you to record any data for this scheme. • The bar graph on the upper right gives a quick overview of what data is recorded and what is outstanding.

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