The number of female dairy heifer calves born so far this year is back 12.1% on 2024 and is back 15.4% on 2023 levels.

At 292,337 dairy heifer calves born up to 1 April, it represents a potential national replacement rate of just 18% based on a total dairy cow population of 1.6m dairy cows.

Declining numbers

This indicates that dairy cow numbers are likely to decline in Ireland over the coming years given normal mortality and infertility rates.

This trend is already apparent in 2025 as the number of dairy heifers calving down for the first time is back 10.3% compared with 2024.

The reduction in dairy heifer calves is likely to be a result of increased use of beef sires across the dairy herd and farmers moving away from producing surplus heifer calves due to constraints as a result of nitrates and low demand for dairy stock over recent years.