There has been a 43,500 reduction in the number of beef calves registered on Irish farms compared with last year, figures from the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) show.

The fall in beef calf numbers represents a 5% decrease.

In the same period, dairy calf registrations have increased by 41,000, an increase of 3%.

This is a continued trend on last year. For the week ending 15 December 2017, there was a 3% increase in dairy calves (45,938 head) compared to 2016. The rate of decline in the beef herd has accelerated since then, having risen from a 1% decrease (11,415 head).

Overall, the number of calf births registered remains unchanged for 2018. A total of 2.3m calves were registered on the ICBF database by the week ending 14 December. Of those, 1.4m are dairy calves and 875,000 are beef calves.

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Continued rise in Angus and Hereford registered pedigree calves

40% of calf registrations take place between 8pm and 8am