High prices for cull cows is also helping underpin in-calf heifer values.
The monthly dairy sale from Taaffe Auctions at Dungannon Mart saw a superb trade for freshly calved heifers.
An on-farm production sale of breeding heifers from Slatabogie Holsteins saw heifer calves top the trade at 5,500 guineas
The number of dairy and dairy-cross animals was almost 160,000 head lower with dairy cow or replacement heifer numbers falling by 80,000 head and dairy males by a similar figure.
Markethill, Kilrea and Ballymena Marts are all reporting an uplift in prices paid for dairy stock.
Suckler cows were in demand during a recent dispersal sale, while rising milk prices are boosting demand for freshly calved dairy stock.