New data from over 145,000 slaughtered animals shows that top‑ranked Commercial Beef Value (CBV) cattle return €120-€400 more per head.

According to the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF), these cattle also finish earlier, and carry a lower carbon footprint.

This new data further highlights that "the CBV as a proven tool for boosting profitability and sustainability in dairy‑beef systems", according to the ICBF.

ICBF data analysis of over 145,000 prime cattle finished in Ireland between June 1, 2025 and December 31, 2025 highlights the role that the CBV can play in identifying profitable animals for beef finishers.

In this analysis, the four animal types examined were:

Angus x dairy steers;
Hereford x dairy heifers;
Dairy dteers;
Limousin x suckler steers.

At slaughter, top‑ranked CBV 'AA' steers returned €170 more per animal, driven by heavier carcass weights (+21 kg) and superior conformation.

Crucially, this performance gap was not evident at calf purchase, where the price difference between top- and bottom-CBV animals was just €55/head, highlighting the strong return on investment of selecting higher-CBV calves.

The high CBV animals also finished 27 days earlier, delivering an additional €45.63/head - based on Teagasc cost estimates, further strengthening their economic advantage.

Environmental benefits of CBV to beef sector

Alongside improved profitability, CBV selection delivers "clear environmental benefits", according to the ICBF.

"The steers in the top 20% had a lower carbon footprint of 0.4kg CO₂e/kg of carcass weight, reflecting greater efficiency and faster finishing.

"These results underline the role of CBV as a practical tool for improving farm profitability and environmental performance in dairy‑beef production systems."

The exercise above was repeated on a total of 21,322 'Hereford x dairy' bred heifers.

Again at slaughter, the top‑ranked CBV heifers returned €138 more per animal, driven by heavier carcass weights (+16 kg) and superior conformation.

This performance gap was not fully evident at calf purchase, where the price difference between top- and bottom-CBV calves was only €40/head.

For those involved in finishing dairy steers, the same results emerged.

Analysis of 43,398 of these finished in the same period showed that high-CBV animals returned €121 more per animal, driven by heavier carcass weights (+14 kg) and superior conformation.

This performance gap was not fully evident at calf purchase, where the price difference between top- and bottom-CBV calves was only €25/head.

Finally, data from a batch of 29,854 'LM x suckler' steers were analysed, yielding similar results.

The high CBV animals returned an impressive €398 more per animal, driven by heavier carcass weights (+47 kg) and superior conformation.

This performance gap was not fully evident at weaning purchase, where the price difference between the top and bottom CBV weanlings was just €220/head.

The ICBF said that the CBV is a tool that is delivering for beef farmers and is showing regular accuracy at identifying cattle with better genetic beef potential.