Dairy AI use up by 14% on Irish farms in 2025

There has been a marked recovery in the use of dairy AI in 2025 with inseminations up 14%, cancelling out the 14% drop experienced in 2024.

New data from the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF), which includes data from technicians and DIY AI operators, shows that there were 1,279,357 inseminations in the dairy herd so far in 2025.

This is an increase of 6% compared to 2024 and the highest recorded number of inseminations ever.

Within this, 56% of all the serves are to a dairy bull while 44% are to a beef bull.

The dairy inseminations are up 14% compared to 2024 while the beef inseminations are back by 2% in 2025.

The number of dairy inseminations peaked in 2021 at 911,197 serves, meaning the 2025 figure of 719,787 is 21% lower than the 2021 peak.

However, the use of sexed semen has increased by 246% between 2021 and 2025, with 213,493 serves with sexed semen in 2025 – which is a 26% increase on the 2024 figure.

At this stage, 30% of all dairy inseminations are to sexed semen and there are now 6,075 herds using sexed semen, an increase of 852 herds on last year.

Based on equating one sexed semen straw with two conventional straws, the number of dairy inseminations with the potential for a heifer calf should equal or exceed the amount used in 2021.

This figures would suggest that AI-bred dairy heifer calf numbers will recover in the 2026 calving season, with a slight reduction in beef-bred calves coming from the dairy herd.