PEDIGREE Charolais breeder Steven Nesbitt, of Winston, near Darlington, has been re-elected chairman of the cattle breed society.

At the annual meeting he told breeders that their decision to exploit the latest genetic selection and performance recording tools was helping to provide beef producers with added confidence and to keep the breed at the forefront.

He said: "Charolais breeders are listening to their customers – suckler producers – and are actively using Breedplan performance recording data to carefully select the next generation, resulting in Charolais being the sole breed among the other major beef breeds that has bucked the trend and is demonstrating an improvement in both calving ease direct and growth rate."

Introducing Completeness of Performance had also been welcomed by breeders. "The star rating system which identifies and rates the quality and quantity of performance information recorded with Breedplan is in turn helping them to underpin EBV accuracy and reward them for their recording efforts," he said. "The system is also encouraging more breeders to record more comprehensively."

Mr Nesbitt said the decision to only offer Breedplan fully recorded entries at the biennial Stirling sales had been fully vindicated – Charolais consistently trades the highest number of bulls and for the highest average price.

Charolais was the only breed at the 2015 February sales to witness a yearly increase in the average bull price and gross over £1m.

"Genetic progress is both cumulative and permanent. I believe we have achieved a lot in the last 12 months and have a clear vision and determination which will continue to take the breed forward," he said.

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