The Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) has confirmed that 95 herds took part in the 2026 Dairy Cow Weighing Programme.

The 95 herds were selected based on their participation in the Dairy Gene Ireland programme in both 2023 and 2026, allowing ICBF to accurately link data to first-time calvers in 2026.

Overall, 19,046 cows were weighed, meaning each herd weighed an average of 200.5 cows.

91% of all recorded cows were Holstein Friesians, while 9% were recorded as Jerseys. 

Average weight

The combined average liveweight of the 19,046 cows recorded came in at 535kg.

Only 10% of animals weighed in the programme were less than 444kg, while a further 10% of the group weighed in excess of 628kg.

All the cows were recorded in or around their 150th day of lactation to ensure consistency in average weights, as body condition fluctuates throughout the season.

The main difference noted by ICBF was the contrast in efficiency over parities.

From the 2026 results, efficiency was shown to improve after a cow's first parity.

The results also pointed to efficiency peaking around parities three and four, before gradually declining in older cows. 

Efficiency peaked at 1.007kg of milk solids per kg of liveweight at parity three.

Parity one was down at 0.926kg MS/kg of liveweight, and started a gradual decline again after parity four before to 0.878kg MS/kg of liveweight.

ICBF highlighted how the number of cows in the older age groups were smaller, as expected. 

The data collected by ICBF will now be analysed and used to keep the maintenance sub-index updated in line with the cows of today in future EBI evaluations.

Dairy Cow Weighing Programme

The Dairy Cow Weighing Programme was set up three years ago in a bid to improve the accuracy of the maintenance sub-index.

The programme involves the collection and analysis of liveweight records from dairy cows, which ultimately improves the understanding of the relationship between cow size, maintenance requirements and overall production efficiency. 

ICBF said that weighing milking cows helps to identify animals which are producing milk solids most efficiently.

It stated that heavier animals typically require more feed and maintenance than a lighter cow would to achieve the same level of production.

According to ICBF, every €1 increase in the maintenance sub-index is associated with a 1.5kg reduction in liveweight among parity 3+ cows.