Calf registrations have edged closer to the one million mark, with 139,451 head registered during the week ending March 4, 2022.
Taking a look at the latest figures from the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF), we can see that this brings the total number of calves registered for the year to date to 856,878 head.
Compared to the same period in 2021, registrations are 3,413 head further on.
Calf registrations
Looking at the registrations in more detail we can see that 118,343 calves are registered to dairy dams. This is a decrease compared to the same period in 2021, when 124,076 calves were registered to dairy farms at the corresponding point in time.
Taking a look at the total number of dairy calves registered this year, we can see that 739,408 calves have been registered so far.
This is 8,582 head more than the same period in 2021, when 730,826 calves had been registered at that point.
Moving to the calves born to beef dams, some 21,108 head were registered in the week ending March 4, 2022.
This is a decrease of 3,320 head compared to the same period in 2021, when 24,428 calves had been registered.
Looking at the total beef births for the year to date, we see that 117,470 head have been registered so far.
This is 5,169 head behind the corresponding 2021 figure, when 122,639 calves had been registered.
Total calf registrations up to and including the week ending March 4, 2022:
- Dairy calf births: 739,408 (+8,582);
- Beef calf births: 117,470 (-5,169);
- Total births: 856,878 (+3,413).