ICBF Sire Advice on HerdPlus: Does It Actually Help Irish Dairy Farmers Pick Bulls?

ICBF's Sire Advice tool — launched on HerdPlus on 12 March 2026 — gives you a ranked shortlist of recommended AI sires matched to your individual cows. It's free, it uses EBI as the core metric, and it works within the sire pool you already have access to. Spring AI season is largely done for most dairy herds, but if you're an autumn calver or planning for 2027, this is worth knowing. For smaller dairy farms without a regular breeding advisor, it's a useful starting point. It's not a replacement for an experienced advisor who knows your cows.

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What Is ICBF Sire Advice?

It's a feature inside the HerdPlus mobile app. You open the app, select a cow, and the tool recommends sires from your available AI list ranked by compatibility.

Most Irish dairy farmers with registered herds are already on HerdPlus — it's ICBF's main farmer-facing platform, available free on iOS and Android.

How the Recommendation Logic Works

The tool cross-references three things: the cow's own EBI sub-indices, her fertility and calving ease records, and the EBI profile of sires on your available AI list.

EBI — the Economic Breeding Index — is ICBF's core ranking system for Irish dairy. It's been refined over decades and is widely regarded as the most reliable single measure for Irish dairy breeding decisions. Teagasc recommends using EBI as the primary selection tool, particularly for traits like milk solids, fertility, and survival.

What Sire Advice does is take the EBI logic and apply it cow-by-cow, rather than herd-wide. That's the new part.

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Does ICBF Sire Advice Match What a Breeding Advisor Would Recommend?

Sometimes. For straightforward matings — a high-EBI cow with no calving complications, bred to a high-EBI sire for milk solids — the tool will likely land on the same shortlist an experienced advisor would. The EBI data underpinning it is strong, and ICBF's sire database is the most comprehensive available for Irish dairy conditions.

Where it diverges is in the nuance. A good breeding advisor will look at a cow's frame, her teat placement, her calving history, and how she's milked through lactation. None of that is in the algorithm. The tool produces a ranked list based on the data ICBF holds. It does not know the things you and your vet know about that individual cow.

Scale helps explain why the tool matters. Ireland recorded more than 200,000 calf registrations by April 2026 — up roughly 33,000 year-on-year. Even small improvements in sire selection across that volume of matings add up quickly in milk solids and fertility across a herd.

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Where It Falls Short

The tool recommends within the sire pool you have access to — your AI contract or the national list. If your contract only covers ten sires, it ranks those ten. It won't tell you a better option exists outside that pool.

It doesn't factor in type traits, longevity weightings specific to your system, or farm-level history. A breeding advisor working with a herd over multiple seasons builds up information the EBI index can't capture.

There's also the question of timing. Spring AI season for most dairy farms peaks February to May. By late June, the main decisions are already made. The tool was available from 12 March — which is useful — but farmers who run a tight spring programme would have been partway through it before the feature launched. If you missed it this season, it's one to have set up before February next year.

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Who Gets the Most Out of It

Smaller dairy farms — and Ireland has around 17,000 dairy farms, with the majority running under 100 cows — often don't have a dedicated breeding advisor visiting regularly. For those farms, Sire Advice gives them access to EBI-based sire matching that was previously only available if you paid for a private advisory visit or did the index analysis yourself.

It's also useful for autumn calvers. If your breeding window runs July to September, the tool is live now and relevant. The same logic applies — check the EBI match cow-by-cow before you confirm sire orders.

For farmers who already work with a breeding advisor, use it as a cross-check. If the tool's shortlist matches your advisor's recommendation, you have more confidence. If it diverges, ask why — that's a useful conversation.

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FAQ

Is ICBF Sire Advice free to use? Yes. It's included in HerdPlus access at no extra charge. HerdPlus itself is free for all registered Irish herds.

Does the tool work for beef crosses as well as dairy matings? Sire Advice is built around EBI, which is a dairy-specific index. If you're selecting beef sires for dairy cows — a common decision on Irish farms — the tool focuses on dairy traits and calving ease. It is not a substitute for advice on selecting specific beef terminal sires where carcass and conformation traits matter.

Can I use this to plan next season's breeding programme now? Yes. Late June is a reasonable time to review this season's matings and start thinking about next year. If you log in to HerdPlus now, you can review the sire recommendations against the cows you've already served — useful for identifying patterns before you finalise your AI contract for 2027.

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The Bottom Line

ICBF Sire Advice is a solid free tool that puts EBI-based sire matching in every farmer's pocket — it works well as a starting point, falls short of replacing a good breeding advisor, and is most valuable for smaller dairy farms without regular advisory support.

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Where to Get Help

• HerdPlus app — download on iOS or Android; log in with your ICBF herd number
• ICBF — icbf.com/services/herdplus for guidance on the Sire Advice feature
• Teagasc — teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/breeding for EBI guidance and breeding programme advice
• Your local Teagasc advisor or private breeding consultant — worth involving for larger herds or complex breeding decisions