Recent figures from ICBF show that calf registrations from beef dams are back by 21,096 head, or 9.5%, so far this year. In 2017 to date, almost 1,045,000 calves have been registered.
Recent figures from ICBF show that calf registrations from beef dams are back by 21,096 head, or 9.5%, so far this year.
In 2017 to date, almost 1,045,000 calves have been registered.
Some 79.5% or 833,700 of these have been from dairy dams, while just 20.5% or 212,246 have been recorded from beef dams.
The number of beef births recorded for the week ending 24 March was over 7,000 head below the same week last year.
In some areas of the country, and in particular in western counties, there have been widespread reports of slightly increased calving spreads in herds.
Some AI technicians and farmers have said that this is as a result of poor weather conditions during the breeding season for spring calving cows in 2016.
There is also a view that there is an increase in the number of farmers changing from suckling to drystock enterprises, which could also be a contributing factor to the decrease in beef calf births. However, no data is yet available to suggest this is the case.
Meanwhile, dairy calf births for 2017 stand at 833,700, which represents a 2.4% increase on the same period in the 2016 figure of 819,786.
The calving season was much slower to start in 2017 when compared to last year, with fewer January calves. However, the pace of calvings has picked up dramatically since then.
For the period between 11 and 24 March, the figure was 164,282, which is an increase of 141,797 on the same period in 2016.
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