The Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) has released the 2022 HerdPlus Beef Calving reports which aims to give farmers an in-depth insight into the reproductive performance of their herds.
The report outlined that the average calving interval of the national suckler herd has improved by two days from 395 days in 2021, to 393 days in 2022. This is the third consecutive year that the calving interval has had year-on-year improvement.
The calving reports run from mid-year, therefore the 2022 data covers the period from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022.
Other important fertility parameters such as the spring six-week calving rate, calves/cow/year and percentage of recycled cows have all seen positive trends too.
The report also shows improvements in the mortality figures of suckler-bred progeny.
The table below shows the national beef calving statistics from suckler herds with 10 calvings/year or more:
The percentage of heifers calved at 22-26 months of age has improved by 1% in 2022 to stand at 24%.
While this is an improvement, there is plenty room for further gains in this area. Calving beef heifers successfully at 24-months requires management from birth to calving to ensure they meet their target weights.
It is advisable to weigh replacement sucker heifers and these weights can be recorded on the ICBF website.
Once heifers are weighed, farmers can assess performance levels accurately and see where their heifers stand in relation to targets.
The table below gives a simple outline of target weights at different ages, for calving beef heifers at 24 months:
The top 10% of suckler herds in Ireland had a calving interval of 358 days which equates to a calving interval five weeks greater than the figure for the national herd average of 393 days.
The calving interval figure for the national herd has showen little to no improvement over the past decade.
According to the ICBF: “It has never been so important to focus breeding with bulls that have a high Euro-Star Replacement index and a high fertility sub-index.”
A look at the figures from over the past five years indicates scope for continued improvement in many of the Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) however, a particular focus must be placed on improving the overall fertility of the national herd.
The cattle-breeding authority believes that more focus on four and five-star replacement breeding stock from farmers participating in the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) will help to improve the productivity and performance of the overall suckler herd.