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Calf births registered to a beef sire totalled 370,655 during 2021, an increase of 12,321 or 3.4% on the previous year, data from the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC) shows.
Driving the increase in registrations was a marked rise in the number of beef calves born to a dairy dam.
Beef cross calf registrations increased by 6.7% to 139,610, a rise of almost 8,800 year on year.
The number of calf births recorded to a dairy sire have fallen by just over 1,200 head.
Suckler trend
For the second year in a row, there has been a rise in calf births originating from the suckler herd, which went up by more than 3,400 head to 229,970.
This means that calves born to a suckler cow account for 62% of births registered to a beef sire.
Aberdeen Angus is the most common sire breed for beef calves registered in 2021, accounting for 26% of births, a 0.6% increase on 2020 levels.
Limousin accounts for 24% of calf births followed by Charolais on 21%. Belgian Blue is the fourth most common sire, but lags well behind the top three on 8%, with Hereford at 7%.
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