Minister McEntee complimented Progressive Genetics on their farmer centred approach and contribution to Irish agriculture and the local economy. “It is brilliant to see a farmer owned co-op based here in the county of Meath build a business that employs some 300 people across the country with technicians driving into farmer’s yards up and down Ireland from Belmullet to Bunclody. The science and innovation that is at the heart of the sector and the work farmers do is phenomenal and Progressive Genetics is a huge part of that as well”, she said.
At the opening ceremony, the CEO of Progressive Genetics, Brendan Scanlon, highlighted the services and technologies Progressive Genetics has to offer Irish farmers and the role they play in keeping Irish agriculture on the top tier of the global stage. “We are very proud to be 100% Irish farmer owned and we are very proud of what we do at Progressive Genetics. Following our initial establishment in 1995 and of the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) in 1998, this facilitated the development of the Economic Breeding Index (EBI). EBI is now a well-established measure of progress in the dairy sector and we have made significant gains in genetics in the intervening years.
“The average EBI of first calving heifers in 2022 is €214 higher than the first calving heifers 20 years ago. This equates to an extra €428 per lactation for heifers calved this year, compared to the heifers of 2002. The annual gains in EBI are now trending at €12 per annum,” he said.
Brendan also commented on a number of challenges not least the environmental issues where Irish agriculture is in the firing line for contributing to greenhouse gas emissions.
He said: “Research by Teagasc has shown that for every €10 increase in EBI there is a reduction of 1% in GHG emissions per kg of milk solids as well as improving the profit per cow by €20.
“This is where Progressive Genetics plays its part by providing farmers with the technologies to reduce their herd’s carbon footprint and become more efficient and profitable. The technologies of AI (including the sexed semen) and milk recording are key to genetic progress and we complement them with herd health testing from Independent Milk Laboratories (IML) and our farm software tools from Agrinet. Today we provide services across 20 counties with a team of 150 AI technicians and 120 milk recorders.”
Brendan concluded: “Progressive Genetics has also been taking part and investing in sexed semen trials since 2013 and this year we saw the establishment of a sexed laboratory in Moorepark which facilitates the availability of our top EBI bulls during the peak breeding season.”