New data released by the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) shows that the average calving interval for the dairy herd is now 392, with a calf per cow per year rate of 0.92. It was 396 in 2014. The trend has been consistently improving, with the average calving interval dropping from 403 days five years ago to present day.

Looking closer at the 2015 figures, there is a natural difference between the top 5% and the bottom 5% of dairy herds. The calving interval for the top 5% dairy herds is 361 days with the bottom 5% having a calving interval of 451 days for 2015.

The average six-week calving rate for 2015 was 57%. The target for the industry is to have this figure at 70%. The top 5% of herds had a six-week calving rate of 85% and this drops to 19% for the bottom 5% of herds.

The top 5% of herds produced 1.02% calves per cow per year and the bottom 5% produced 0.68% calves per cow per year, more akin to the suckler herd.

According to the ICBF figures, the average percentage of heifers calving down between at between 22 and 24 months in 2015 was 56%. A full 100% of the top 5% of herds calved down heifers at between 22 and 24 months while the bottom 5% of herds did not have any heifers calving down in that age period.