Interbull Sub Committee

History of the ICAR Interbull Sub-Committee

INTERBULL was developed in 1983 as a joint venture between the International Committee for Animal Recording (ICAR), the European Association for Animal Production (EAAP) and the International Dairy Federation (IDF). At this time, increasing trade in semen, embryos and livestock had led naturally towards breeders wanting to make accurate comparisons between animals performing both within and across countries. However, these comparisons were made difficult by:

• differences in genetic evaluation methods
• differences in breeding objectives
• differences in farming environment

Since then, the international exchange of information provided by INTERBULL has helped member countries to develop more effective methods of genetic evaluation for cattle.

INTERBULL became a permanent sub-committee of the International Committee for Animal Recording (ICAR) in 1988, supported by its parent organisations EAAP and IDF, and also the FAO. It is managed by an ICAR appointed Steering Group, consisting of members from many different countries.

INTERBULL established the INTERBULL Centre in 1991, under contract with the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala, Sweden. The INTERBULL Centre provides a number of user-paid services to member countries. In 2001, INTERBULL had 41 member, with more likely to join in the future.