The Launch of the Data Quality Index

The Data Quality Index (DQI) is a new index that rates flocks based on the quality and quantity of the data recorded on the flock over the previous year. This index can be used to help LambPlus farmers identify the areas where there data recording needs the most attention in the year ahead. Each LambPlus member can now access their DQI through their Sheep Ireland login; they will find the score on their homepage.

The Target DQI for flocks to be achieving is 80% or higher. The DQI reflects three aspects of your data recording

• Completeness — Have you recorded all available information on the Sheep Ireland database?
• Timeliness — Have you recorded this data in a prompt manner?
• Quality — Have you accurately recorded this data?

It is Sheep Irelands intention to publish flock DQI next year along with animals evaluations in order to better promote the breeders that have complied with the three points above. All of these points are essential to the breed improvement strategy in order to generate the most accurate evaluations we can, and to help minimise the movement of evaluations later in the year during sales season

Sale Report – Sheep Ireland Multibreed €uro-Star sale 2015

Tullamore mart was the venue for the 5th annual Sheep Ireland Multibreed ram sale which was held on August 22nd. The Sale is now starting to establish itself as the ideal setting to acquire any new breeding rams for the years ahead. With the number of STAP farmers needing to complete Task one (Ram Task) this year greatly reduced from the previous two years, it could have been expected that demand for recorded rams may be in question, however this was one of the most successful sales to date with a large number of bodies around the ring. On the day 151 rams went through the ring with a clearance rate of 87%. For the full report click here.