The total number of calf registrations on Irish farms has surpassed two million for 2023, based on Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) data.
Based on the data, a total of 2,023,550 calves have been registered on Irish farms for the year to date.
This is slightly behind the same period for 2022, when at this stage 2,042,476 calves had been registered.
The one-million mark for registrations was achieved in March, with the data very much showing that a spring-calving system is operated by the majority of farmers.
A total of 2,409,981 calves were registered on Irish farms in 2022, meaning that from July onwards, only around 350,000 calves were born on farms.
Calf registrations
For the week ending June 23, 2023, based on the ICBF data, a total of 21,605 calves were registered on Irish farms.
A total of 8,382 calves were registered to dairy dams, which is 652 fewer calves than the same period in 2022 when some 9,034 calves were registered to dairy dams.
So far this year, the total number of calves registered to dairy dams stands at 1,471,856 head, which is ahead of 2022 when 1,449,478 calves were registered.
Some 13,223 calves were registered to beef dams in the week ending June 23, which is 3,349 head behind the same period in 2022 when 16,572 calves were registered.
The total number of beef calves registered so far in 2023 stands at 551,694 head, whereas for the same period in 2022 the figure stood at 592,998 head.
The following is the number of calf registrations up to and including the week ending June 23, 2023, and how many were registered in said week:
- Dairy calf births: 1,471,856 (+8,382);
- Beef calf births: 551,694 (+13,223);
- Total births: 2,023,550 (+21,605).
AIMS
Animal Identification and Movement (AIMS) data released by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), shows that 65% of the calves born in 2022 were born to dairy dams.
This means that some 1,587,438 calves were born to dairy dams, while 853,456 calves were born to beef dams.
For calves born to beef dams this is a decrease of 2.5% compared to 2021 and a 2% increase for the calves born to dairy dams.
Overall calf births increased by 0.38% from 2021 to 2022, with 2,431,683 born in 2021 and 2,440,894 born in 2022.
There were 840,050 calves born in 2022 sired by a Friesian sire, while 1,493,753 calves were born to Friesian dams in the same period.
For the beef dams, Limousin cows had the most number of calves born at 285,658, while Angus was the most popular beef sire with 437,197 calves born.