The declining beef herd poses a significant challenge for the potential of our exports going forward, Meat Industry Ireland chair Philip Carroll has said.

Meat and livestock exports increased by 18% to just over €5bn last year, according to Bord Bia’s export performance and prospects report 2025/26. Irish beef exports accounted for the majority of this €5bn, exceeding €3.4bn and increasing by 24% year-on-year.

However, beef throughput for 2025 was back by 180,000 head, Carroll said speaking at the launch of the report at Bord Bia headquarters on Wednesday morning.

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"That's a significant loss in the overall amount of output that we could have achieved otherwise. We've seen a significant decline in the suckler herd from around 1.1m head in 2011 to 750,000 head. In the past we could compensate that loss by the growth in the dairy sector but that is unlikely to happen in the future," Carroll said.

The suckler herd is declining at a rate of 3% per annum.

It is a major concern, he said, whether Ireland can maintain it's current level of output into the future.

Sheep sector

Sheepmeat export volumes declined by 15% in 2025, reflecting lower availability of sheep for processing.

While higher prices partially offset the volume decline, export values were still 10% lower, with the value of Irish sheepmeat exports falling for the third consecutive year to an estimated €360m, according to Bord Bia. Export volumes declined to 51,000 tonnes, the lowest level recorded since 2016.

Commenting, Carroll said that not only is there a decline in output but in the value of sheepmeat.

"There's been a loss of two million animals over the last number of years and that is continuing. There's an underlying issues here around generational renewal both in the sheep sector and the suckler sector. These have to be addressed," he said.