ICBF reveals top 20 dairy sires of 2026 breeding season
The most used sires to date in 2026 on dairy farms have been revealed by the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF).
Now that the breeding season is well and truly wrapped on spring calving herds across the country, farmers will be interested to see how their choice in sires compares to the most popular selections.
As well as that, autumn calving herds will be preparing to select their bull team before the breeding season kicks off in December.
Dairy sires
Below is a list of the top 20 dairy sires with the most serves recorded to date in 2026, ranked from top to bottom:
| No. of serves | AI Code | Bull Name | EBI | Milk | Milk | Fertility | Supplier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16,805 | FR2534 | (IG) PARKDUV MAGICAL | €259 | €106 | 1kg | €99 | NCBC |
| 13,697 | FR9289 | (IG) JOHNSWELL RORY | €225 | €87 | 217kg | €68 | NCBC |
| 13,559 | FR8658 | (IG) TUOHY HISTORIC | €218 | €78 | 38kg | €86 | NCBC |
| 12,443 | FR2500 | (IG) MORTALSTOWN MATISSE | €229 | €105 | 33kg | €80 | NCBC |
| 12,430 | FR9016 | (IG) TINNAKILL GRANDSLAM | €256 | €98 | -56kg | €69 | NCBC |
| 11,993 | FR9842 | (IG) BALLYDEHOB RINGO | €208 | €73 | 68kg | €77 | NCBC |
| 11,420 | FR1958 | (IG) KILVURRA GRASSLEAF SRM | €269 | €100 | 21kg | €97 | NCBC |
| 11,286 | FR2533 | (IG) BUNACLOY FANTASY | €257 | €66 | -178kg | €142 | NCBC |
| 10,876 | FR5816 | (IG) CLOONIGNEY PINATUBO | €192 | €79 | 65kg | €32 | NCBC |
| 10,698 | FR1185 | (IG) KILLAVALLA LINESMAN | €226 | €99 | -29kg | €88 | NCBC |
| 9,309 | FR8388 | (IG) KNOCKSOUNA SWOOP | €217 | €76 | -14kg | €113 | NCBC |
| 9,122 | FR9358 | CLOCHRUA MESSI | €239 | €114 | -92kg | €61 | Dovea |
| 7,440 | FR9001 | (IG) DOONMANAGH PAULSON | €232 | €82 | -30kg | €98 | NCBC |
| 7,028 | FR8709 | (IG) OLCASTLETOWN MOJO | €251 | €76 | -221kg | €116 | NCBC |
| 6,629 | FR1985 | (IG) BALLYCONRA RHODIN | €235 | €89 | 6kg | €104 | NCBC |
| 6,519 | FR7929 | (IG) TANKARDSROCK TEAK | €158 | €61 | 221kg | €43 | NCBC |
| 5,837 | FR1840 | MAUDMOUNT FIREPOWER SRM | €292 | €106 | -155kg | €102 | Dovea |
| 5,578 | FR2587 | (IG) DANGANBEG JUSTINTIME SRM | €233 | €85 | -136kg | €96 | NCBC |
| 5,552 | FR9817 | BELLAMYS DM GALANT-ET S1F | €173 | €80 | -139kg | €55 | Eurogene/Lic |
| 4,926 | FR1849 | BUNACLOY DETROIT | €297 | €94 | -88kg | €114 | Dovea |
Out of the 20 top bulls used this year, 16 were bred from Irish genetics, 11 of which were also in the top 20 most used by this time last year.
In 2025, there was a stronger emphasis on milk with only one bull in the top 20 having a negative milk kg figure.
This year, 11 bulls out of the top 20 had a a negative milk kg figure.
Parkduv Magical (FR2534) is the number one most used dairy bull this year with 16,805 serves recorded
The second most used bull dairy bull this year is Johnswell Rory (FR9289) with 13,697 serves recorded.
These two bulls combined have had less serves in 2026 than the top bull of 2025 had over the same period last year, which was Olcastletown Mojo (FR8709) with 33,517 serves.
This shows that dairy farms are spreading artificial insemination (AI) straws out over a larger bull team.
To date in 2026, 1,008,293 dairy AI serves have been recorded, a slight decrease from the 1,021,596 serves recorded by the same time in 2025.
Beef bulls used on dairy herd
Below is a list of the top 10 beef sires used in the dairy herd, with the most serves recorded to date in 2026, ranked from top to bottom:
| No. of serves | AI code | Bull name | Breed | DBI | DBI - Calving | DBI - Beef | DBI - Carbon | Carcass Weight | Gestation - Days | Supplier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18,348 | AA6682 | HW LORD HORATIO V538 | AA | €164 | €42 | €115 | €7 | 13.5 | -2.3 | NCBC |
| 16,869 | AA8472 | TUBRIDMORE TWOMEY ET | AA | €145 | €50 | €85 | €10 | 7.9 | -3.3 | NCBC |
| 14,648 | BB9373 | ENLEVE DU BOIS DESNEUX | BB | €200 | €21 | €184 | -€5 | 24.4 | -2.2 | NCBC |
| 14,158 | AA9661 | KNOCKMOUNTAGH VALENTINE | AA | €168 | €25 | €138 | €5 | 20.1 | -3.1 | NCBC |
| 13,661 | HE9550 | SOLPOLL 1 WATSON PP | HE | €146 | €20 | €117 | €8 | 11.1 | -1.2 | NCBC |
| 10,859 | AA4089 | INTELAGRI MATTEO E.T. | AA | €179 | €61 | €109 | €9 | 10.4 | -3.6 | NCBC |
| 10,824 | AA9860 | WESTELLEN BOSS Y929 | AA | €147 | €52 | €87 | €8 | 10.3 | -2.7 | NCBC |
| 8,282 | AA9607 | SHANAWAY VENGABUS | AA | €185 | €59 | €116 | €11 | 12.4 | -4.6 | NCBC |
| 7,677 | AA1431 | DEELISH WINGMAN | AA | €120 | €44 | €70 | €6 | 5.5 | -2.0 | NCBC |
| 6,991 | AA4631 | GABRIEL PAT 1949 | AA | €184 | €51 | €124 | €9 | 12.4 | -2.7 | NCBC |
The number one most used beef bull in dairy herds this year is AA6682- HW Lord Horatio V538, with 18,348 serves recorded.
HW Lord Horatio V538 retained his spot from 2025 as the number one beef sire used in the dairy herd.
However, his number of serves dramatically decreased from 46,669, a reduction of more than 28,000 serves.
The second most used beef bull in dairy herds this year is another Angus, Tubridmore Twomey ET (AA8472), with 16,869 serves recorded.
Out of the top 10 beef sires used on the dairy herd, eight of them were Angus, while one was a Belgian Blue and one was Hereford.
