A total of 614,527 handheld artificial insemination (AI) serves were recorded during the month of May, according to data from the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF).

And with a further 67,271 AI serves recorded in the first five days of June, the total number of serves recorded in 2026 is now up to 800,657.

In contrast, this time last year, 805,863 straws had been served to breeding animals.

That means the total number of AI serves is down by 5,206 as we enter the sixth week of the breeding season.

A slow start to the season after the poor spring was evident from April's figures, with only 67,193 serves recorded this year compared to the 85,362 recorded in April of last year.

It will be interesting to keep an eye on the June figure to see if farmers have pushed the breeding season out to delay calving next year, given how wet the month of February is tending to be in recent years.

It is worth bearing in mind that there was 178,937 serves recorded last June.

Breeding season

AI is running over 5,000 serves off last year's mark, which in reality is a small figure and could well catch up, but is it an indication that the breeding season has changed?

A lot of farms in heavy soil areas that would have once had a calving start date of February 1, have now pushed the season back a week and even two weeks in places to match their grazing season.

A number of AI companies have also noticed that sexed semen is back on last year, while conventional usage is up.

However, it must be noted that this reduction comes after a sharp incline in usage last year.

Other AI companies that Agriland spoke to feel they have maintained 2025 sexed semen levels.

As breeding continues to advance and farmers adapt to breeding technology and synchronisation programmes, it will be interesting to see if AI serves do take a dip as submission rates increase.