The latest animal identification and movement (AIM) statistics report came out late last week. This report covers 2017, detailing all birth registrations and farm-to-farm movements, as well as cattle slaughtered, exported and on-farm deaths.

One aspect of the report worth noting is the breakdown of the birth registrations by breed. By looking at these figures, we can see how each of the respective breeds have fared over the last number of years. While individual pedigree registrations aren’t released yet, we can see how each of the breeds did on a national scale.

The biggest change over the last number of years came in the form of the abolition of milk quotas in 2015. This has seen the dairy cow herd continue to increase, while the national beef herd is seeing a regression.

While this led to an increase in Friesian calf numbers for the first two years following abolition, 2017 Friesian numbers actually show a decrease.

However, Jersey calf registrations that year showed an increase of nearly 50% on 2015 levels.

This, coupled with the big increase in beef-sired calves from the dairy herd, means the overall number of dairy calves increased by over 120,000 in the two-year period, or 220,000 on 2014 levels.

On the beef side, the biggest beneficiaries of this growth are the easy-calving short-gestation breeds. In particular, Angus and Herefords have flourished, with nearly 120,000 more calves from the two breeds combined.

The Angus breed had the biggest increase in numbers of any breed, with an extra 65,000 calves sired by Angus bulls, up 20% on 2015. Hereford saw the number of calves sired by the breed increase by 28%, accounting for an extra 53,000 calves.

The Salers and Aubrac breeds also saw substantial jumps when the smaller starting population is taken into account. Aubracs jumped by 28%, while Salers saw an increase of 27%.

While these breeds have been used more in the growing dairy market, they have also grown substantiality in the beef herd.

Much of this growth has been in response to the introduction of the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) in 2015, which focused on breeding stronger maternal traits into the national beef herd.

Both Aubrac and Salers rank very highly on replacement €uro-Star ratings and so a number of farmers have used the breeds to breed replacement females to fulfil the programme requirements.

However, breeds such as Charolais and Belgian Blue, which focus more on terminal traits, are feeling the brunt of this scheme, with both breeds witnessing substantial drops in calf numbers.

Charolais calf numbers dropped by a massive 40,000. While the BDGP played its part in this drop, the reducing national suckler herd is also a big contributor.

Belgian Blue-sired calf registrations dropped almost 20%, with over 12,000 fewer born in 2017 compared with 2015. The breed was already facing an uphill battle before 2015, with the strong export market for heavily muscular weanlings no longer as lucrative.

Leading the way with regard to the most calves across beef and dairy was the Limousin breed, with a total of 425,924. Having overtaken Charolais as the dominant breed in the suckler herd in 2016, the expanding dairy herd has also helped the Limousin increase its market share.

Limousin now stands as the third-most-used beef breed in the dairy herd, with over 64,000 calves, up by over 2,000 since 2015.

However, it’s worth noting that the gap between the Limousin and Angus breeds has tightened massively. In 2015, nearly 100,000 calves separated the two.

However, the growing dairy herd has benefited the Angus breed best and in only two years the gap has dropped to below 40,000.

Depending on how much more the dairy sector grows and the suckler herd declines, the coming two years could see a new number one.

Future outlook

Easy-calving bulls will continue to be to the fore. Whether it be bulls for the dairy herd or suckler herd, a live calf is paramount. Traditional and low-calving-figure beef bulls should see an in-line increase with the growing dairy sector.

One point to note is that any agricultural scheme released by the Department has the ability to change the breed makeup of the national beef herd drastically.

The BDGP, which focused on replacement traits, gave a new lease of life to breeds such as Salers and Aubrac, while, as previously mentioned, breeds focused more on terminal traits felt the pressure.

Given the first round of the scheme is set to finish in 2020, it is likely any subsequent schemes could see a different change in direction given the negative feedback received from many societies.