The latest calf registration figures from the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) show that a total of 168,912 calves were registered in the last week.
With the figure for calves registered ending the week February 17, this brings the total number of calves to 494,048 for the year to date.
This is 26,403 behind the same period in 2022, when 520,451 calves had been registered.
Calf registrations
A total of 154,030 calves were registered to dairy dams in the week ending February 17, which is 4,131 fewer than the same period in 2022 when some 158,161 calves were registered to dairy dams.
Overall, the number of calves registered to dairy dams stands at 426,295, which is 20,590 fewer than 2022 when the figure stood at 446,885 head.
The number of calves registered to beef dams is also down on 2022 figures, with 5,813 fewer calves registered so far this year.
Some 14,882 calves were registered to beef dams in the week ending February 17, which is 2,445 behind the same period in 2022 when 17,327 calves were registered.
The total number of beef calves registered in 2022 stands at 67,753, whereas for the same period in 2022 the figure stood at 73,566 head.
Calf registrations up to and including the week ending February 17, 2023, and how many were registered in said week:
- Dairy calf births: 426,295 (+154,030);
- Beef calf births: 67,753 (+14,882);
- Total births: 494,048 (+168,912).
Increasing day time calvings
The next few weeks will see calves arriving on farms thick and fast, which can often result in a number of long nights for farmers.
But there are a number of measures that farmers can use to increase the number of cows that calve during the day.
Research conducted by Teagasc determined that feeding silage to cows at night increases the number of day time calvings.
This practice reduced the number of cows calving between 12:00a.m and 6:00a.m from 25% down to 10-15%.
But this practice is only really suitable where adequate feeding space is provided for all cows – which is at least 0.6m/cow.