There has been continued improvement in the fertility of the national dairy herd, according to the 2016 dairy calving report from the Irish Cattle and Breeding Federation (ICBF).

The average calving interval improved by three days from 392 days in 2015, to 389 days in 2016. This has improved from a figure of 403 in 2011.

The top 5% of herds in 2016 had a calving interval of 361 days, while the bottom 5% had an interval of 444 days, 41 days more than the total average in 2011.

Six-week calving rate

The six-week calving rate has seen an increase of 1% from 57% in 2015 to 58% in 2016. The top 5% of herds had an 85% success rate with regard to six-week calving, while the bottom 5% had 21% success rate.

Calves per cow per year

As for calves per cow per year, the average in 2016 is 0.90 – with the top 5% having 1.02 calves per cow per year. The bottom 5% is quite poor at 0.68 calves per cow per year.

Percentage of heifers calved down at 22-26 months

The average in the country for percentage of heifers calved down at 22-26 months is 59%. The top 5% of herds have a 100% success rate in this category while the bottom 5% have a 0% success rate.

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Average dairy calving interval at 392 days in 2015