Since 2013 the proportion of calves registered to Limousin and Charolais has dropped 7% and 8% respectively. Calves registered as a dairy breed dropped 8% too. This means the big five breeds – Limousin, Aberdeen Angus, Black & White, Charolais and Simmental – account for just over 80% in 2017, when they represented over 85% in 2013.

The only breeds to rise in the big five were Angus, which was up by 14%, and Simmental, over 2%.

The remaining breeds represent nearly one-fifth of cattle. British blue jumped 32% to 3.9% of calf registrations, Salers were up 39.5% to just of 2% of all calf registrations. Shorthorns were up 56% to 4.2%, with beef Shorthorns rising nearly 60% to just over 2% of registrations. Finally, one of the biggest rises came from the Hereford breed, which nearly doubled its numbers to 1.9% of all calves registered.

Despite the increased proportion of calves to come from less popular breeds, the total number of breeds has changed little. In 2013 there were 128 different breeds or cross breeds, which fell by only five to 123 different breeds and cross breeds by 2017.