Charolais Society to tighten recording rules
Pedigree Charolais breeders will have to adhere to stricter recording and inspection procedures under tighter rules imposed by the British Charolais Cattle Society (BCCS) in an attempt to increase the accuracy of data being recorded for estimated breeding values.
The move comes after the society gained access to a French database of more than 380,000 Charolais calves’ recording birth weight and growth rate in the early stages of life.
This means birth weight and birth date data recorded by all BCCS members can now be benchmarked against French records, which it hopes will give buyers more confidence when buying performance recorded bulls.
David Benson, BCCS chief executive, said this new data was “the most robust research data produced for the growth rate of Charolais calves at a young age”.
He added: “Data from the Institut de l’Elevage means we now have a database we can record growth rates against. In the past, Breedplan would highlight outliers and we would go and inspect those individuals and make sure data being recorded was accurate. However, we wouldn’t have any information to benchmark them against.
“It’s important commercial men have confidence in the recorded data – it is the commercial guys that are driving EBVs. I don’t believe there is any other breed that has got this level of robust data,” he said.
As a result of the data, any Charolais calves found to have impossible early age growth rates based on the French data will not be eligible for registration. “This is not a witch hunt, but we are trying to make sure the information being recorded is robust. We are not there to see a calf born and sometimes we have seen birth weights lower than we would expect, but this database will allow us to compare and highlight any anomalies.”
Mr Benson said if any anomalies were raised the breeder would be put on weekly notifications and more inspections would be carried out at an early age.
“If upon inspection there are some cattle not fitting within the parameters the breeder will have to answer questions and will not be allowed to register the birth. No one breeder is bigger than the breed, so we have got to keep it right,” he stressed.
It is part of the BCCS’ remit to authenticate the database. “If our members are going to record we have to make sure they are doing it accurately.”
The reinforced recording and inspection procedures will take place with immediate effect. Members of the Charolais Council are offering their herds as some of the first to be checked.
Watch a video of how beef farmer Simon Frost successfully uses EBVs in his herd.