The national cattle herd continues to contract rapidly with 288,022 fewer cattle on farms in the space of just 12 months.

The latest Animal Identification and Movement (AIM) data published by the Department of Agriculture for 1 March 2025 shows significant reductions across all categories of stock.

The greatest reduction has occurred in dairy males with almost 107,000 fewer dairy males on farms compared to 1 March 2024.

This includes almost 43,000 fewer dairy males aged less than three months of age, over 22,000 fewer males in the 12 to 24 month age category and 34,180 less animals aged 24 to 30 months.

The reduction in dairy males is being underpinned by a combination of higher live exports and the increased use of beef genetics / sexed semen in dairy breeding programmes.

This is also reflected in the number of dairy and beef males aged less than three months of age increasing by over 20,000 head despite suckler cow numbers falling by almost 50,000 head over the last year.

Beef numbers

The combined impact of such reductions on future beef supplies will be significant.

As detailed in Figure 1, there was in excess of 130,000 fewer beef cattle on farms aged up to 36 months of age on 1 March. There is only a few age categories which recorded higher numbers.

There was 7,203 more cattle aged 30 to 36 months of age which feeds in to higher slaughterings this year.

This situation will quickly change to a deficit in the coming months with over 64,000 less cattle on farms aged 18 to 30 months of age.

Cow numbers

There was almost the same reduction in suckler cow and dairy cow numbers with both categories falling by 47,913 and 49,488 head, respectively.

The decline in the national suckler herd continues at an alarming rate. \ Philip Doyle

It should be noted that the reduction in dairy cow numbers could be exaggerated by later calving in herds in 2025 but even if this is the case, there is still expected to be a year-on-year reduction in numbers. As reported in this week’s Irish Farmers Journal there is substantially fewer replacement dairy heifers on farms with numbers running almost 62,000 head lower on 1 March.