A surge in the registration of beef bred calves in the first quarter of this year has been recorded bythe Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC) in Northern Ireland (NI). The figure of 68,192 beef sired calves registered on NI farms compares with 57,744 during the same period in 2014, an increase of 10,448 calves or 18%.

Admittedly this was a particularly low figure given the weather and feeding difficulties of the previous year which had in itself recorded a sharp decline on the Quarter 1 figure in 2012. This year’s figures are only bettered by the 2012 figure of 69,443 in the last seven years.

Looking at the bigger cattle supply picture in NI, these latest figures come on the back of increased birth numbers over the past year. With 95,749 calves in the under six month category, this represents an increase of 17% on the numbers in this category last year.

Similarly in the six to 12 month category, the total of 168,363 represents a 6% growth on the position a year ago. Moving into the category that will become available for slaughter over the next year, there is a decline of around 3% in the 12-24 month category and an even sharper decline in the 24-30 month category of almost 7% and no change in the numbers between 30-36 months.

These figures reverse a pattern of decline that had set in over the previous two years and come at a time when uncertainty surrounds the suckler beef industry with CAP reform hitting the beef sector hardest in NI. It is, however, too early to draw the conclusion that the decline is reversed and we await the next statistics on suckler cow numbers with interest. It could be that this is a short term response to the requirement to demonstrate active farming in NI to claim the payment under the Basic Payment Scheme.