Dairy
The latest data from ICBF shows that 1,056,515 cows have been recorded so far in 2026, giving us an indication of where milk production is.
As the use of artificial insemination (AI) winds down on dairy farms, what dairy and beef sires have been used the most in 2026?
Dairy News
The VistaMilk Research Ireland Centre hosted more than 100 stakeholders in Teagasc Moorepark this week for a future breeding conference.
According to data from the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF), 614,527 handheld AI serves were recorded during the month of May.
Beef
New beef carcass performance data shows some trends in carcass performance and age at slaughter of dairy-beef cattle when grouped by CBV.
In the final few days of May, the national average somatic cell count (SCC) level was sitting at 158,000 cells/ml, according to ICBF.
53 bulls have been tested under the Dairy Gene Ireland programme in 2026 according to the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF).
Farmers will be busy trying to get field work done while the sun shines, but as things die down they may notice a drop in milk production.
The most recent evaluation of the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) Active Bull List has seen another major re-ranking.
Milk constituents will fluctuate at this time of the year, but it is still important to know if you herd is performing at the optimum level.
According to data from ICBF, over 1.3 million calves have been registered to dairy dams 12 weeks on from February 1.
The total number of Irish calves registered so far in 2026 is set to surpass the 1.6 million mark this week.
The total number of Irish calves registered in 2026 is running more 21,000 head above last years figures as of Friday, April 17.
Despite spring calving on the wind down, the total number of Irish calves registered in 2026 is barrelling towards 1.5 million.
The average prices paid for Belgian Blue-sired calves bred off dairy cows held more firm than traditional sire breeds last week,
According to ICBF, the top 75 bulls on the ICBF Dairy Active Bull List are all Irish-bred for the first time in the services history.
The total figure for calves registered to beef dams has now surpassed the 200,000 mark, according to the ICBF database.
The total number of Irish calves registered in 2026 is running more 36,000 head above last year as of Friday, March 27.
New data from over 145,000 slaughtered animals shows that top‑ranked Commercial Beef Value (CBV) cattle return €120-€400 more per head.
The total number of Irish calves registered in 2026 has surpassed the the 1 million mark, with 86% of calves registered to dairy farms.
As farmers sit down to pick out the bull team for the 2026 breeding season, they may be wondering what were the top dairy sire in 2025?
N.Ireland
Momentum continues to build behind the preparations being made to launch a new Bovine Genetics Project (BGP) in Northern Ireland.
The total number of Irish calves registered in 2026 is set to surpass the 1 million mark this week according to ICBF.
