Economic and Genetic Optimisation of Dual-Purpose Bull Testing and Selection

Summary

The cost/effectiveness of various alternative testing and selection schemes for dual purpose bulls used in artificial insemination was investigated. The costs, returns, population structure and parameters were those most relevant to the Irish Friesian AI bred population of approximately seven hundred thousand cows. The discounted gene flow method was used to quantify the economic benefits from testing and selection in net present value terms. These were set against testing and selection costs, and net benefit/cost ratios were calculated.

The results indicated that the programme currently in operation gives a return of about 50 to 1. Expanded testing and selection for beef traits would be highly cost effective giving, for performance testing, a return of better than 100 to 1. A series of sensitivity tests indicated that the results were relatively stable under reasonable deviation from the basic set of assumptions.