The National Breeding Summit was launched this week on the farm of Bryan Daniels in County Kilkenny. The event, titled Breeding 2022, is supported by AXA Smart Farm Insurance and takes place virtually on the evening of January 19th.

The host of the virtual event, Ivan Yates, was on the farm to get an understanding of one of the main themes of the event, breeding for sustainability. The launch was also attended by representatives of AXA, Christy Doherty and Brian Prout.

Bryan Daniels is an award winning dairy farmer and owner of the Raheenarran Herd. Bryan is passionate about sustainability, both economically and environmentally. He will be speaking on the ‘Breeding for Sustainability’ panel discussion on the night.

The agenda for the event focuses on the new challenges that livestock farmers face in Ireland and the new opportunity for the animals bred in 2022 playing a major part in the future direction of sustainable, profitable dairy and beef production.

A balanced and independent discussion will look at the merits of Dairy Beef Index, what breeding for sustainability looks like, new technology that is advancing breeding and what breeding decisions are needed for premium beef markets.

The beef breeding panels include discussions with world champion Simmental breeder Garth Behan from Laois, ZAG breeder and vet Sean O’Sullivan from Kerry, Joe Burke of Bord Bia among other farmers and breeders nationwide.

The Breeding Premium Beef Stock panel discusses what Ireland needs to breed for market-leading prime cuts and how to breed to achieve premium prices.

The dairy breeding panels include Vicky Lynch from the German 900 cow pasture-based 900 herd, Grasmilch Brandenburg, which recently won a Ceres (Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies) Award.

NDC Milk Quality Awards Overall Winner 2021 Michael McCarthy (Limerick) also features along with industry heavyweights Doreen Corridan (Munster Bovine), Tom Baker (Eurogene) and Donagh Berry (Teagasc).