The total number of calves registered in Ireland to date this year has declined by over 54,000 head, according to the latest figures from the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF).

As of Friday, October 3, a total of 2.1 million (2,118,190) calves had been registered in Ireland. This figure is down by 54,396 head on the 2,172,586 head of calves registered in the same time period of 2024.

Of the calves registered to date this year, just under 620,000 of these were from the suckler herd.

Suckler-bred calf registrations are down by almost 23,000 head (22,958) on the over 642,000 suckler-bred calves registered in the same time period last year.

Looking at the number of calves registered to dairy cows, this number stands at just under 1.5 million head (1,498,530) to date this year, down almost 31,500 (31,438) head on the 1,530,268 calves registered to dairy dams in 2024.

Suckler and dairy numbers declining

The trend of falling suckler-bred calf registrations is not new in Ireland and has been materialising since the abolition of milk quotas. It remains to be seen where suckler cow numbers will level out.

There are several factors being attributed to the decline in suckler cow numbers, including the increasing age profile of land owners in Ireland, farmers opting to switch to dairy in recent years, and - until this year - the challenging margins in suckler farming.

Thankfully, weanling prices have seen a significant uplift this year and suckler farmers are being better rewarded for the work that goes into producing a weanling.

The past two years has seen a levelling and slight drop-off in dairy calf birth registrations.

Whilst profitability is generally not an issue in dairy farming, the work-life balance and broad range of alternative career choices are proving to be challenges in keeping young people in dairy farming.

There is also a succession issue on many dairy farms, where the next generation may have been college-educated or learned a trade and are not willing to milk cows on a full-time basis.

These are just some of the factors being attributed to the levelling off and slight decline in Irish dairy cow numbers after over 10 years of significant growth.