Some 2.131m calves were born in Ireland in 2014, an increase of 40,000 on 2013.

The increase in births was completely from the dairy herd. The Department of Agriculture’s Animal Identification and Movement system (AIM) shows a 45,000 increase in calves born from dairy cows, with calf births from beef cows back by almost 9,000. As with most changes from 2013, the effect of the fodder crisis has to be taken into account. Barrenness was more pronounced in beef herds than dairy herds, with the worst- affected counties in the west, predominantly beef-producing rather than dairy regions.

Cork and Galway have by far the most herds, with over 10,000 each. While Galway only has 300 fewer herds than Cork, there are 550,000 more animals in Cork due to the much larger herd size. Mayo has over 8,000 herds.

Bull calves were in a small majority among the class of 2014. In all, there were 46,000 more bull than heifer calves at 1,088,087 to 1,042,961, a 51%-49% gender balance.

Breeds

Over half the calves born in Ireland in 2014 were born to Friesian cows. In total, 1,097,741 Friesian cows calved in 2014. The Limousin and Simmental breeds still account for half of all suckler cows – with 313,345 calves born to Limousin cows, and 212,220 born to Simmentals. Angus and Hereford, currently being talked of in some quarters as about to experience a significant resurgence, held steady. Angus cow calvings totalled 114,794, with 82,429 Hereford births.

About three-quarters of the herds in Ireland are breeding herds. In all, 79,118 herds saw at least one calf born in 2014, leaving 26,569 herds with no breeding animals. As would be expected, these finishing herds are most predominant in counties such as Meath and Kildare. However, every county has a significant number of non-breeding herds. The increase in popularity of contract-rearing of heifers for dairy farmers is one example of ways in which non-breeding herds are moving away from the typical weanling-to-factory system.

Average herd size

Average herd size in 2014 was 58.1 animals. In all, the 6.13m animals are distributed across 105,687 herds. More than 18,000 herds have more than 100 animals.

Southeastern neighbours Kilkenny and Waterford have the largest herd sizes – averaging over 100 animals. Wexford, Tipperary, and Cork make up the next three counties on the list. The distribution of animals by herd size in each county can be seen in the chart on the right. It shows Leitrim as having the smallest herd size, with an average of 24 animals and only 61 of the 2,861 herds having over 100 animals. That’s barely 2%, compared with over 41% in Kilkenny. Nationally, 31,243 herds – one in three – had less than 10 births last year.

The average herd size is 58.1 cattle, but which county most closely resembles the national average? No county in Ireland has an average herd size of between 50 and 60 animals. Quite a few are in the 40s, and Monaghan, with 48.6, and Kerry, with 48.9, are the only two within 10 cattle of the national average. Westmeath herds typically have 65.1 animals, but it is Dublin that best mirrors the national average.

A county dominated by urban settlement, its tiny land base is predominantly tillage and horticulture. It has far fewer cattle than any other county, but its 20,975 cattle are spread across 335 herds, giving an average of 62.6.

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Calf density

Which county has the highest density of calves born? This question saw the production of the above heat map representing the number of calves per hectare of grass. For the purposes of this exercise, we took the calf births per county in 2014, as per the AIM data. We then took the area of grassland – excluding commonage and rough grazing – in each county as reported in the Central Statistics Office’s census of agriculture in 2010, the most recent comprehensive statistics. This means we excluded those areas suitable only for extensive grazing or for hill sheep.

The resultant graph shows that Cork and Waterford have the highest density of calves born, with a calf born for every 1.16/ha in Cork, and Waterford almost as prolific. The band of counties around these two feature as the next most prominent, from Kerry across to Wexford, with Monaghan and Louth also reporting similar output of calves per area of grassland.

What can we glean from this map? A lot of factors are involved in determining the density of cows calving. We have removed some of them, such as tillage area and poor-quality grazing. The prevalence of sheep in counties such as Donegal, Galway and Mayo is a factor – not all sheep are on poorer land. The proportion of non-breeding herds in counties such as Kildare and Meath is also relevant.

However, what we are also seeing is the counties with the best combination of land quality, climate, development of farms, and stocking density producing more calves per ha of grass.

Fodder crisis fallout

The knock-on effect from the fodder crisis on fertility can be clearly seen in the pattern of calf births. Births were back by almost 23,000 in January compared with the previous year – an 11% drop. February saw a reduction in calf births of nearly 40,000 – down from 489,346 to 450,670. This was an 8% fall.

The drop was clearly due to fertility issues in the difficult March/April of 2013, as can be clearly seen by the fact that births recovered over subsequent months. March, April and May saw a cumulative increase in calf births of 62,000. The trend continued through June and July, with an extra 11,000 in each of these summer months – double digit increases. In fact, births were up every month until December, when there was a slight drop.

Bull selection

It seems that breeding for dairy expansion peaked in 2013. While almost three-quarters of a million calves were born to dairy sires, the 744,173 calves born to a dairy sires represents a drop of almost 30,000 on the previous year. This would suggest that farmers decided to have cows on the ground for 2015, and drive on as soon as quotas were lifted. The 65,000 increase in beef sires would suggest there will be an improvement in the conformation of cattle being finished in 2016.

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