Beef farmers in Co Monaghan had the best rates of producing a calf per cow per year from their herd.

The national average is 0.85 calves per cow per year based on ICBF’s HerdPlus beef calving statistics.

Monaghan farmers, in the 2017 calving season produced a 0.87 calves per cow per year which is still short of the national target one calf for every cow in the country every year.

From the 26 counties, Leitrim beef herds had the lowest rate.

Beef farmers there averaged 0.83 calves per cow per year.

According to the ICBF “there are 11 counties with a figure of 0.86 calves per cow per year while Laois, Westmeath, and Dublin have a figure of 0.84 calves per cow per year placing them just ahead of Leitrim”.

The top five counties in Ireland had a calf per cow rate of between 0.87 and 0.86 per year. The lowest counties which included Leitrim and Dublin had a calf per cow rate of between 0.84 and 0.83.

The top five counties were -

1. Monaghan

2. Carlow

3. Waterford

4. Limerick

5. Tipperary

Calving interval

The beef calving interval in 2017 stands at exactly 400 days. The average 2016 calving interval for the beef herd was 399 days. The slippage in calving interval, which is intrinsically linked to farm profitability, is being attributed to a difficult spring in 2016.

The top 5% of herds achieved a calving interval of 388 days, while the bottom 5% had an interval of 485 days.

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Beef calving interval hits 400 days