For years, Ireland has being looking to the far side of the world to draw inspiration from our pasture-based dairy counterparts in New Zealand, but have the roles now reversed?

As much as we complain about the growing number of regulations in Irish agriculture, it can be argued that they have actually helped lay the foundations of rapid progression within the dairy sector.

Advancements in technology and information have also driven efficiency on farms, between pasture utilisation, nitrogen management, breeding, and much more.

We now find ourselves in a position where we are less reliant on drawing information from other countries such as New Zealand, whose systems and innovations would have been a major focal point in previous years.

But the question remains, has it all gone full circle, with New Zealand now finding themselves drawing inspiration from Irish dairy?

Ireland vs. New Zealand

An issue that has always being at the forefront of New Zealand's dairy industry is the 'bobby calf' situation, albeit the situation is not as bad as it once was.

For those who may not be familiar with the Kiwi's dairy system, 'bobby calves' are male calves out of dairy dams, which are typically considered a "by-product" and essentially useless.

Dairy farms often made domestic and global headlines as animal welfare standards were not met when it came to these bobby calves on a number of farms.

There is no denying Ireland was in a relatively similar position only a number of years ago when it came to considering calves as by-products, especially when it came to Jersey-cross and Friesian bull calves.

Some farmers were paying to get rid of these calves as they were neither good for beef or breeding purposes.

Fast-forward a handful of years and look at where strategic breeding and advancements in technology have got us in terms of the whole dairy-beef situation.

What would have once being considered by-products were dairy farmers' saviours this year, as milk prices dipped below cost of production but calf sales soared.

You would have been a lucky individual to get a good calf below €200 this year, as even Friesian bulls made more than that.

The table below provides a breakdown for the average price of different bull calves aged between 21-42 days-of-age traded between July 6 and July 12, well outside peak calf trading times.

There is no denying that it was an exceptional year for calf trade, but unless we get to a stage where there is a large over-supply of dairy-beef calves, which could always be a possibility, it is hard to see calf prices plummet back to where they once were.

Ireland's whole dairy-beef situation is something that DairyNZ chair, Tracy Brown took note of when on a study trip here recently.

At this stage, it is hard to imagine New Zealand not adopting a more dairy-beef focused system such as Irelands.

However, the system would need adjusting to suit their market.

It must be considered that New Zealand sees approximately 1.8-2 million bobby calves born each year, in comparison to Ireland's approximate 1.6 million total calves from dairy dams, which includes replacements and dairy-beef.

Meanwhile, there is approximately 23,400 beef and sheep farmers in New Zealand, according to Tupu New Zealand.

In contrast, Ireland has over 70,000 specialised beef farms, according to the Central Statistics Office's farm structure survey of 2023.

That means there would be approximately 77 dairy-beef calves for each beef farmer in New-Zealand, compared to the approximate number of 14 dairy-beef calves per beef farmer in Ireland.