Data released by the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) has shown an increase of 47,627 birth registrations.

Up to the week ending November 6, there have been 2,226,852 total calves registered to the ICBF database.

Over the same period last year, 2,179,225 births were registered, representing a 47,627 increase in the year.

Of this total figure, dairy births account for 1,551,043 of total registrations.

Of these dairy births, 333,253 calves, or 15.3% of the year total, were registered within a two-week period up to the week ending February 27.

This figure is up 20,097 births in the dairy sector on last year's total of 1,530,946.

Out of the top 10 most popular AI (artificial insemination) beef bulls used on dairy cows, eight are Angus, one is a Hereford and one is a Belgian Blue.

The easy calving traits, along with strong prices being paid, lends to the use of Angus sires on dairy cows.

This high use of Angus sires can be seen in mart figures, with 101,347 Angus calves out of dairy dams being traded in marts to date in 2026.

Suckler herd

Beef registrations are also up since this time last year, with 27,530 more calves registered.

To date, 675,809 total beef births have been registered in 2026, compared to 648,279 in 2025.

For the week ending November 6, total beef births were up on the 2025 equivalent, with 6,408 calves registered in 2026 compared to 5,766 in 2025.

This increase is positive news for the Irish suckler sector which has seen consistent downturn in the national herd in recent years.

It is hoped that this will buck the trend of suckler farmers exiting the sector.