The number of calves born to dairy dams and sired by a beef bull has increased steadily in recent years. The latest calf birth registration data published by the Department of Agriculture covers the period January to September 2020. It shows that calf birth registrations to beef sires are almost twice that of dairy sires.

There were 1,460,603 calves registered to a beef bull compared to 756,208 calves born to a dairy bull. Male births dominated across both sire types with a male to female ratio of 757,006:703,597 for beef sires and 379,871:376337 for dairy-sired births. The narrower gap on the dairy side is likely to be underpinned by greater use of sexed semen.

The data released also shows continued growth in birth registrations completed online. There were 1,626,897 births registered online (73.5%) compared to 589,914 in paper format.

Dairy births increase, beef reduce

The latest ICBF birth registration data for the week ending 30 October shows dairy birth registrations running at 1,459,697. This compares to 1,411,025 for the corresponding period in 2019, with the increase in numbers of 48,672 holding steady since spring.

This is underpinning an increase in births for the year to-date with the total number of calves registered up 42,420 head to reach 2,259,138. This means suckler births are running lower than 2019 levels, which is disappointing following births being in a more positive position earlier in the year. The 799,441 suckler births are running 6,252 head lower than in 2019.

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