Table: 66% of 2025 Irish calf exports were sired by a beef-breed bull
A total of 66% of the calves exported from Ireland under six weeks-of-age in 2025 were sired by a beef-breed bull while the remaining 34% of calf exports were sired by a dairy-breed bull.
Figures recently released in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine's (DAFM's) Animal Identification and Movement (AIM) Bovine Statistics Report for 2025 show changing trends in the breed composition of Ireland's calf exports.
A decade ago, in 2015, 92% of calves exported from Ireland under six weeks-of-age were sired by a dairy bull.
That percentage figure has been declining since with a growing number of Irish calf exports sired by beef-breed bulls.
2024 was the first year that beef-sired calf exports surpassed dairy-sired calf exports with 46% of the calves exported sired by a dairy breed bull. In 2023, 55% of calf exports were sired by a dairy-breed bull.
The changing trend is in line with overall changing trends in sire usage on Irish dairy farms.
As national dairy cow numbers have largely stabilised after a period of significant growth, more emphasis is being placed on beef-breed sire usage on Irish dairy farms with more sexed semen being used to produce replacement dairy heifers.
The table below details the sire breed and age of Irish cattle exports in 2025:
| Breed | 0–6 wks | 6 wks–6 Mts | 6–12 Mts | 12–18 Mts | 18–24 Mts | 24–30 Mts | 30+ Mts | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charolais: | 2,465 | 1,090 | 7,884 | 3,372 | 3,456 | 2,782 | 2,863 | 23,912 |
| Angus: | 72,570 | 16,560 | 4,038 | 8,860 | 7,267 | 1,777 | 1,103 | 112,175 |
| Hereford: | 26,579 | 5,982 | 612 | 471 | 473 | 389 | 583 | 35,089 |
| Other: | 5,261 | 1,398 | 1,377 | 1,142 | 1,134 | 471 | 991 | 11,774 |
| Friesian: | 62,172 | 10,265 | 1,546 | 2,313 | 5,621 | 3,343 | 4,153 | 89,413 |
| Belgian Blue: | 9,990 | 2,338 | 4,875 | 2,286 | 1,129 | 680 | 685 | 21,983 |
| Aubrac: | 2,625 | 781 | 374 | 335 | 213 | 79 | 127 | 4,534 |
| Limousin: | 5,625 | 2,076 | 18,324 | 7,423 | 3,925 | 3,196 | 4,501 | 45,070 |
| Simmental: | 3,275 | 814 | 865 | 582 | 489 | 343 | 671 | 7,039 |
| Total: | 190,562 | 41,304 | 39,895 | 26,784 | 23,707 | 13,060 | 15,677 | 350,989 |
In 2025, just under 74,000 male and 52,500 female calves under six weeks-of-age that were sired by a beef bull were exported and 62,500 male and 1,500 female calves sired by a dairy breed bull were exported.
The largest number of cattle (and calves) exported from Ireland in 2025 by breed type was Angus, with a total of over 112,000 Angus cattle exported. A total of 72,500 of the Angus cattle exported were calves under six-weeks of age.
Looking specifically at calf exports by breed type, Angus-sired calves made up the largest number of calf exports followed by Friesian with over 62,000 and Hereford with 26,500 Hereford-sired calves under six weeks-of-age exported.
