Some 877,974 dairy-sired calves were born to dairy cows on Irish farms in 2022, with 602,179 registered to artificial insemination (AI) sires.

Of these 602,179 AI-bred calves, 273,661 (45%) were male and 328,518 (55%) were female, which highlights the increased update in sexed semen usage.

Calves in 2022

Approximately 69% of all dairy calves were born to AI sires, with 21% registered to stockbulls and 11% having no sire recorded.

Sire recording trends 2015-2022

The number of calves registered without a sire is declining however, from 208,564 in 2015 to 177,315 in 2022.

But, it is still 11% of dairy-sired calves on farms, which makes completing a genetic evaluation impossible.

Without a recorded sire, the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) is unable to generate economic breeding index (EBI) information on an animal, as it is missing 50% of the back breeding.

In a situation where the sire is unknown, ICBF recommends that farmers consider genotyping their calves.

According to ICBF, this process will quickly match the calf up to the correct sire via DNA and will also provide the farmer with an abundance of information to help with decision making.

This is particularly so when considering female replacements; it is extremely helpful to know their EBI and that the parentage is verified so that the farmer can make the most profitable decisions.

Top 10 dairy sires

There are ten AI bulls that accounted for 25.33% of dairy-bred calves born on Irish farms in 2022.

The table below outlines the ten most-used dairy AI sires in 2022:

Top 10 dairy AI sires recorded in 2022
(Figures based on calves born from January to December 2022 with a sire recorded)
Source: ICBF

Top of the list is Doonmanagh Seville (FR4547), with 25,543 calves registered to him in 2022.

Although Seville is the sire of the most calves, he only sired 4.24% of dairy breed calves in 2022.

Doonmanagh Seville is a National Cattle Breeding Centre (NCBC) bull and has an economic breeding index (EBI) value of €246.

In 2021 he topped the list of the most used sires based on handheld serves only.

Seville was sired by Coolnasoon Art (FR2249), who is also the sire of Ballygown Albert who is third on the list.

Second on the list, a bull that needs no introduction, is Kilfeacle Pivotal (FR4728), who is registered as the sire of 22,218 (3.69%) calves.

Although there has been a concern regarding the number of his sons in AI, none of them feature on the list.

The bull with the third-highest number of calves born in 2022 is Ballygown Albert (FR4513).

An NCBC bull with an EBI value of €182, he sired 19,514 (3.24%) calves.

Ranked tenth of the list is Oldcastletown Picasso (FR6085), an NCBC bull with 7,566 (1.26%) progeny born in 2022; he is an Ballygown Albert son.

Fourth on the list is Highmount Stark (FR5803), having sired 18,181 (3.02%) calves. He has an EBI value of €307 and is also an NCBC bull.

Highmount Stark was sired by Oldcastletown Ronaldo (FR2298) – who is the sire of two other bulls on the list: Rathlannon Esmonde SRM (FR5530), who is fifth on the list with 15,547 (2.58%) progeny and Glenaboy Ronald (FR4785), who is eight on the list with 10,629 (1.77%) progeny.