The beef calving interval in 2017 stands at exactly 400 days, according to new figures released by the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF).

The average 2016 calving interval for the beef herd was 399 days. The slippage in calving interval, which is intrinsically linked to farm profitability, is being to attributed to a difficult spring in 2016.

The top 5% of herds achieved a calving interval of 388 days, while the bottom 5% had an interval of 485 days.

The average herd in Ireland is producing 0.85 calves per cow per year, with the top 5% hitting 1.07.

The average interval for the dairy herd in 2017 stands at 391 days, up slightly from the 2016 interval of 389 days. The three years prior to 2017 all saw improvements to the interval from 396 to 389 last year.

The top 5% of dairy herds had a calving interval of 363 days, while the bottom 5% were at 444 days. The average dairy herd produced 0.91 calves per cow per year, with the top 5% achieving 1.02. This fell to 0.68 in the bottom 5%.

The average six-week calving rate is 63%, the top 5% of herds were at 89% and the bottom 5% were at 23%.

In terms of calving down heifers between 22 months and 26 months, all of the top 5% of herds achieved this. The average figure was 63%, but none of the bottom 5% of herds achieved this target.