March 7, 2021 2:00 pm The Gene Ireland Programme is run by the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) in conjunction with several of the national artificial insemination (AI) companies. The programme was created to provide dairy farmers with the next generation of genetics through the progeny testing of young bulls. These young bulls – which are supplied by a number of AI companies – are used on good data recording herds, so that ICBF can collect information on these animals and produce high-quality genetic evaluations on these bulls. This spring, ICBF’s target is to test 100 young genomic bulls and the cost is €12 a straw, up from €8.50 a straw in 2020.