The number of beef sired calves registered in Northern Ireland has dropped by 1.7% for the month of January 2021, in comparison to January 2020, according to the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC).
Overall, calf registrations reached 40,231 head in January 2021 – which is a decline of 2,242 head or 5.3% year-on-year.
Beef-sired calves
During the month of January this year, there were over 24,000 beef-sired calves born on Northern Ireland farms.
The dams of these calves witnessed 57% of births coming from dairy-bred cows, while the remaining 43% was from suckler-bred cows.
The LMC reported that the month of January has seen a year-on-year rise of almost 6% in the numbers of beef-sired calves coming from dairy-bred cows. On the other hand, the number of beef-sired calves registered to suckler cows has declined by 10% year-on-year.
Taking the top spot in the most used breed is the Aberdeen Angus. The Angus accounted for 32% of the total beef-sired calves in the month of January.
Dairy-sired calves
Turning to dairy calf births, these registrations have also declined it seems in comparison to the same period in 2020.
During the first month of this year, dairy-sired calf births tallied to 16,215 head – which was a drop of 10% in the levels registered during January 2020.
The figures suggest that an increase in the use of sexed semen had been used during the 2020 breeding season, with males accounting for 36% of dairy births. This was a drop of 2% in male births from the January 2020 calves.
