Breeding, Genetics & Performance
Breeding & Genetics: Questions Answered
Straight answers to the questions people actually ask.
Including the awkward ones. If something is a genuine limitation of the module we would rather say so here than let it be discovered later.
Questions answered
What people ask about Breeding & Genetics
Does this replace the software I already use?
Not necessarily. Agrivencia integrates with authoritative sources and mainstream packages rather than insisting on replacing them. Where an incumbent does one job well, the platform connects to it; where the job spans several systems and nobody does it, the platform does it.
Will it work where I have no signal?
Yes. Field capture in Breeding & Genetics is offline first, storing locally and synchronising when a connection returns. Only around a fifth of UK farms report reliable signal across the whole holding, so this is a design assumption rather than a feature.
What happens when the scheme rules change?
Scheme rules are held as data rather than code, so a rate change, a cap change or a window closure is a content update that takes effect the same day. The platform also alerts you to what the change does to your own position.
Who owns the data I put in?
You do. The Farm Data Charter gives you a complete export in open formats at any time, and every instance of data sharing requires an explicit, revocable consent that is visible in your account.
Does it work if I farm across a border?
Yes, and that is one of the main reasons the platform exists. A business with land in more than one nation sees one reconciled view rather than two portals, with obligations and deadlines from both administrations in a single calendar.
Can my agronomist or land agent use it too?
Yes. You grant scoped, time-limited access per holding and per module, and you can revoke it in one click. Advisers never get a shared password or a blanket view.
What is the biggest limitation of this module?
Selection on single traits causing correlated decline. Mitigated by index-based selection. We would rather state that plainly than let you discover it after signing.
Everything included
The full capability list, grouped
Record and plan3
- Pedigree recording with sire, dam and full ancestry
- Estimated Breeding Value capture and across-breed comparison
- Genomic test result recording and interpretation
Operate and monitor3
- Breeding objective definition weighted to the production system
- Mating plan generation with inbreeding coefficient checking
- Artificial insemination, embryo transfer and natural service records
Comply and evidence3
- Semen and embryo inventory with straw-level tracking
- Performance recording — growth, maternal, carcase and health traits
- Genetic trend analysis showing whether the herd is improving
Analyse and improve3
- Replacement selection ranking on index rather than appearance
- Bull and ram fertility testing records
- Conditionality evidence for genetics-linked scheme payments
Detail
The short version
Genetic improvement is the only permanent, cumulative gain available in livestock production, and it is routinely decided on appearance. This module records pedigree and performance, applies Estimated Breeding Values and genomic data to selection, plans matings against the breeding objective, and measures whether the herd or flock is actually improving.
Northern Ireland has made participation in a bovine genetics programme a conditionality of its main area payment, which brings genetic recording into the compliance domain for the first time. Genomic testing costs have fallen to the point where commercial rather than pedigree herds can justify it, and breed society databases increasingly publish comparable across-breed evaluations.
Everything Breeding & Genetics records is written into the same platform data spine as every other module, which is why a single entry can satisfy an operational need, a scheme evidence requirement, an assurance clause and a carbon activity line at once. That is the whole design premise: the work is already being done, and it is the recording of it that is duplicated.
How we handle evidence
Where these figures come from
Agrivencia grades every figure it publishes. Primary legislation, official statistics and audit reports are treated as authoritative. Levy body and professional body data is treated as reliable. Commercial trackers and trade press are treated as indicative and labelled as such. Where sources conflict, the conflict is shown rather than resolved silently.
- Authoritative Legislation, statutory instruments, official scheme rules, national audit and public accounts reporting, departmental annual reports and accredited official statistics.
- Reliable Parliamentary committee evidence, peer-reviewed research, independent economic institutes and levy body analysis.
- Supporting Professional bodies, land agents, certification schemes and industry associations.
- Indicative Commercial market trackers and trade press, used for corroboration only and always labelled.
Payment rates, caps and windows in UK farm support change frequently and sometimes without notice. Nothing on this platform is a substitute for the current published scheme rules or for professional advice.
Free download
Selecting on Index: Practical Genetic Improvement for Commercial Herds and Flocks
A practical handbook, written for UK farm businesses, with the sources cited and the working shown. No sales call attached — the guide is the point.
See Breeding & Genetics running on your own holding
Thirty minutes, using your parcels, your schemes and your enterprises rather than a sample farm. No obligation and no sales script — if it does not fit your business we will say so.
- Free tier available
- No card required
- Your data stays yours