One of the country’s leading calf buyers has warned that “new markets will be needed” for the Irish dairy calves exported to the Netherlands before the spring 2026 calving season.
Wicklow Calf Company’s Seamus Scallan has said that the number of Irish calves sold to customers in the Netherlands to date this year has fallen by approximately 30%.
The calf trader who supplies Irish calves to customers across mainland Europe, expects a further 30% drop in the number of Irish calves going to the Netherlands in 2025, and said the calf trade with the country will be completely finished by 2026.
The Wicklow-based calf traders’ comments come following the announcement of ‘the Veal Future plan‘ which was presented to the Dutch Government recently.
In 2023, the Netherlands was the strongest market for dairy male calves with 110,000 calves traded to the region, accounting for more than half of all Irish calf exports that year.
Scallan said that that new Dutch regulations on sourcing calves including the need for an IBR programme in the source country “will lock us out” of the Dutch market by 2026.
He said that the Dutch market has been the main outlet for the “lower-grade Irish dairy bull calves” and warned “there is going to have to be different calves produced on the dairy farms breeding these calves, or there will be no market for these calves in the future”.
He said that while Dutch customers were taking the dairy-sired bull calves, large numbers of beef-sired dairy calves are also being exported: “A lot of the calves being exported this year have been Angus and Hereford.”
Scallan was critical of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue for his engagement on the issue saying that the minister “has failed to address the challenges” facing Irish calf exports.
Netherlands Veal Future Plan
The Veal Future Plan includes a number of issues which will impact Irish calf exports to the Netherlands from January 2026.
Under this plan, calf exports from Ireland, and from other member states, will only be possible in 2026 if the following criteria is met:
- Country of origin can prove that calf energy levels are maintained at a certain level throughout the journey – regardless of distance/hours travelling;
- Calves must be fed twice in every 24 hour period on route with a maximum gap between feeds of 14 hours (Irish calves would have to be fed on the ferry);
- If infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) requirements can be met.
The Dutch agricultural industry has a developed IBR eradication programme with a number of farms in the country already ‘IBR-free’.
The Dutch agri-industry has delayed applications for full IBR free status until 2029, but is now coming under pressure to bring this date forward.
The Dutch authorities have indicated that sourcing calves from vaccinated herds is not enough and that countries must have a national eradication programme in place.
Farms in the Netherlands will be required to only source animals from herds with the same health status which is also a huge barrier for Irish calf exports.
The Netherlands has been Ireland’s largest calf-export market for several years and is an important outlet for dairy-sired male calves in particular.
Over 77,000 calves have been exported to the Netherlands so far this year, back from 103,000 calves in the same period in 2024.
A number of factors contributed to this decline including ferry delays, a later calving pattern in the dairy herd, a declining supply of dairy-sired male calves and better market opportunities in areas such as Spain and Eastern Europe.