Suckler cow numbers are at their lowest in a decade, as the dairy herd expands at a rapid rate.

There are 1,004,334 beef-bred cows in Ireland currently, a drop of almost 80,000hd on the 2009 peak, the latest figures from the ICBF show.

It is the lowest number of suckler cows in the country since 2007, when there were 993,889 beef-bred cows.

Meanwhile, dairy cow numbers have continued to grow at pace for the last 10 years, reaching 1,439,961 on 30 June this year.

There are 408,5000 more dairy cows in the country now than there were in 2007 and an extra 32,000 cows added to the national herd since last year.

While the dairy herd has been increasing year-on-year, the suckler herd has fluctuated from year to year, with an overall downward trend.

Reasons

Most of the changes can be linked directly to market returns and support payments.

Suckler cow numbers rose by almost 68,000 in 2008, coinciding with the Suckler Cow Welfare Scheme, but they dipped two years later when the payment rate was cut from €80/hd to €40/hd.

The fodder crisis in 2013 hit cow numbers again, dropping by 50,000hd, while the beef crisis in 2014 is also likely to be a contributor of a further 10,000 cows dropping out of the herd.

The Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) opened in 2015, generating a minor increase of 2,000hd in suckler cows last year.

There are 13,400 fewer beef-bred cows in the country now than the same time last year.

The dairy expansion and beef contraction looks set to continue, with the latest calf registration data showing that 42,000 additional dairy calves were registered by 6 July this year, compared with the same period last year.

Beef calf registrations fell by almost 16,000 when the 1 January to 6 July 2017 registrations are compared with the same period in 2016.

Read more

The BETTER farm programme