Tobermore dairy herd shows potential of £16.6m cattle genotyping scheme opening next week

Albert and William Wallace discuss genotyping with CAFRE Dairy Adviser, Luke Murray.

A Tobermore farming family whose dairy herd ranks among Northern Ireland’s highest-performing producers is highlighting how genetic testing can help farmers make more informed breeding decisions, ahead of a major government-backed genotyping scheme opening on Tuesday.

Albert Wallace and his son William, who farm just outside Tobermore, have been using genotyping for six years to identify the strongest animals within their approximately 115-cow dairy herd.

Their experience comes as the Northern Ireland Bovine Genetics Genotyping Scheme prepares to open on 1 September 2026, offering financial support of £13 for each eligible animal genotyped.

Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir is urging dairy and suckler beef farmers to opt in, while Ulster Unionist agriculture spokesperson Diana Armstrong MLA has backed participation but called on DAERA to rule out making genotyping compulsory in the future.

Top-performing Tobermore herd

For the Wallaces, genetic information has already become an important part of deciding which animals should produce the next generation of their herd.

“To make good genetic progress you need to breed from your best cows,” Albert said.

The family’s herd recorded an average milk yield of 11,600 litres in the past year, at 4.48% butterfat and 3.64% protein, producing 940kg of milk solids per cow.

Data available through the Sustainable Ruminant Genetics (SRG) Dairy Herd Performance Report ranks the Wallace herd in the top 4% of participating producers for milk yield and the top 3% for combined fat and protein yield.

The herd produced an average 799kg of fat and protein per cow per year, compared with an average of 572kg across other herds included in the comparison.

Albert and William have traditionally sought to breed a functional Holstein-Friesian cow, selecting sires for characteristics including butterfat and protein percentages, fertility, longevity, feet and legs and milk production.

They have used sexed semen for 17 years, reducing the number of cows required to produce replacement females.

Genotyping used to choose future cows

For the past six years, the Wallaces have also genotyped heifer calves, giving them an earlier and more accurate assessment of each animal’s genetic merit.

Most cows and heifers in the herd have now been genotyped.

Animals are ranked using the Profitable Lifetime Index, or £PLI, which combines a range of genetic traits to estimate an animal’s potential lifetime contribution to a dairy business.

As a general rule on the Wallace farm, cows and heifers with a £PLI above £300 are bred to Holstein sires, while those below that level are inseminated using beef semen.

The family moved to robotic milking in 2019, which has also influenced their breeding priorities.

While milk quality and functional characteristics remain important, greater emphasis is now being placed on milk yield to maximise the return from available robot capacity and cubicle space.

Genotyping reports can also identify particular milk-protein genetic variants carried by individual animals. Albert has taken an interest in the A2 beta-casein and BB kappa-casein variants, allowing cows carrying those characteristics to be identified when considering future replacements.

£13 support for every eligible genotype

The Northern Ireland Bovine Genetics Genotyping Scheme opens on 1 September for current and future breeding animals, including cows, heifers and bulls.

From 1 January 2027, the opportunity will expand to calves — male and female — born and registered on the Northern Ireland Food Animal Information System during the 2027 calendar year.

Genotyping involves analysing an animal’s DNA from an ear tissue sample collected using a tag, in a process similar to sampling carried out under the Bovine Viral Diarrhoea eradication programme.

Farm businesses will receive £13 for each eligible genotype submitted through the scheme. DAERA says this support covers the cost of the additional tag and genotyping.

The scheme has a budget of £16.6 million, calculated on the basis of all eligible animals being genotyped.

It forms part of the wider £60 million Bovine Genetics Project, being delivered by DAERA in partnership with Sustainable Ruminant Genetics as part of the Department’s Sustainable Agriculture Programme.

The project is intended to give farmers more detailed information about their animals so breeding decisions can take account of characteristics including productivity, fertility, health and feed efficiency.

Minister Muir said:

“This world-leading scheme will support a more resilient, efficient and environmentally sustainable bovine livestock sector, and will enable herd owners to improve the accuracy of breeding decisions by identifying traits, such as feed efficiency and health-related characteristics, at an earlier stage.”

He added:

“I would encourage all eligible farm businesses to avail of this opportunity to receive financial support to genotype their animals.”

Armstrong urges farmers to act early

Diana Armstrong MLA has also encouraged farmers to participate, arguing that the benefits of genetic improvement accumulate across generations.

“Genotyping puts hard science into the hands of the farmer at the point where it matters most, the breeding decision,” she said.

“Fertility, feed efficiency, health traits, carcase quality: knowing what you are working with rather than guessing from a pedigree is information that pays for itself in the shed and in the bank account. Genetic gain is also permanent. It compounds in your herd, generation after generation.”

However, Mrs Armstrong has also highlighted an important distinction between the voluntary genotyping scheme and the wider Bovine Genetics Project.

The Genotyping Scheme itself requires farmers to opt in to receive the £13 support. Separately, cattle businesses receiving the full Farm Sustainability Payment will be required to register for the wider Bovine Genetics Project and complete the associated CAFRE training by 15 May 2028.

Failure to meet that Bovine Genetics Project conditionality by the deadline will result in a 10% reduction in the Farm Sustainability Payment in 2028. Continued non-compliance will see that reduction increase to 15% from 2029.

The £13-per-animal Genotyping Scheme is also scheduled to close on 15 May 2028.

Mrs Armstrong said farmers should therefore not assume they have unlimited time to take advantage of the support.

“I grew up on a farm and I am married to a farmer, and my advice to herd owners is to opt in, and to do it early,” she said.

“There are two dates the Department did not put in its press release, and both of them are 15 May 2028. That is the day this scheme closes, so a farmer who waits will find the £13 per animal gone.

“It is also the deadline to register for the Bovine Genetics Project and complete the training, and a farmer who misses it loses 10% of their Farm Sustainability Payment, rising to 15% in the years after. Two years sounds like plenty of time. It will go quickly, and I would rather farmers heard that now than in the spring of 2028.”

Call for clarity over future policy

While supporting the technology, Mrs Armstrong is calling for clarity from DAERA about whether genotyping itself could become compulsory at a later stage.

“The Department also needs to be straight with people about where this is heading,” she said.

“I asked the Minister why participation in the Bovine Genetics Project was being made a conditionality of the Farm Sustainability Payment, and the AERA Committee asked the Department directly last autumn whether it intended to make participation mandatory after 2026/27.

“The answer was that future measures under consideration include incentivisation, conditionality and regulation. That is not a denial. Farmers are entitled to know whether the Department intends to compel them, and I want that ruled out.”

She added:

“Get this right and it is one of the most significant things done for our livestock sector in a generation. In the Republic around half of all breeding herds have already signed up. I want Northern Ireland farmers to have the same tools, offered to them rather than forced on them.”

How farmers can take part

Eligible farm businesses must opt in to the Bovine Genetics Genotyping Scheme to receive the £13 payment.

Farmers can do this through the Bovine Genetics Project User Portal operated by Sustainable Ruminant Genetics: srgni.com

Herd owners can also use the portal to check which animals are eligible for the scheme.

CAFRE training, including guidance on eligibility, key dates and how to participate, will be available online and in person from 1 September: www.cafre.ac.uk/bgp-training

Further information is available from Sustainable Ruminant Genetics on 028 2046 2280, or through a DAERA-approved tag supplier.

For farmers considering whether to take part, the Wallace herd provides a practical example of what the information can mean on the ground: identifying the animals with the strongest genetic potential and using those results to influence breeding decisions that can shape a herd for years to come.