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Calf birth registrations across both suckler and dairy herds are down 4.3%, or just over 16,000 head during 2024, data compiled by the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC) shows.
Birth registrations during the first eight months of 2024 totalled 357,023, down 16,141 head on the 373,164 calf births registered over the same period in 2023.
In total, 287,192 calves have been born to a beef sire, down 13,005 or 4.3% on the 2023 figure of 300,197 head.
Monthly registrations of beef calves are lower year on year with the exception of February and August, with an additional 1,008 and 7,479 births recorded respectively in those months.
The biggest monthly decline in beef calf registrations came in June, with numbers down 8,988, followed by 4,862 fewer births in July and 4,730 fewer registrations in March.
Dairy bred
Calf births registered to a dairy sire stand at 69,831 head in 2024, a 4.3% drop on the 72,831 registrations during the first eight months of last year.
August had the largest monthly decline in registrations at 5,495 fewer calves.
The decline in calf births during 2024 is likely to impact supplies of finished cattle coming onto the market in the latter stages of 2025 and early 2026.
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