The Clarifide genomic test has been spoken about a lot recently, so we wanted to give you our overview:
What is the difference between Clarifide and Clarifide Plus?
Both are in-depth genomic tests that can give an indication on genomic traits including; health and fitness, production, type and composites, milk protein components and parentage and inbreeding. The Plus test gives six additional indications on health traits and three more calf wellness traits. Both tests give really valuable information that can help towards breeding strategy. However, it is claimed that by using Clarifide Plus your herd is 106% more profitable over a lifetime as opposed to 69% with the standard Clarifide test.
What about the free AHDB genetic report you can get?
We would definitely recommend looking at your herd genetic report, it can give a really good insight into where your herd is in comparison to the national average. However it doesn’t quite give the insight that other genomic tests do. For example, basing breeding off parent averages is probably better than not looking at all, but having health, production and disease information can obviously give a much deeper indication into the value off future offspring.
Is it reliable?
About 60 – 65% accurate. There will always be those who don’t quite reach their potential, but you also have to factor in the environment.
The way we look at it is you’re investing in your herd for the future. You do get a lot of data from these tests for each cow, which is brilliant, but only if you can use it to your benefit. So if you’re considering having a go or would like to see some examples, let us know.
