Cow number analysis over the past 10 years shows that dairy cow numbers have increased by 40%. This now puts the national dairy herd at over 1.603m, up from 1.144m in 2012.
This increase in dairy cow numbers has led to a change in the most popular beef breeds, and data released by the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) echoes this continued growth in the dairy sector.
The abolition of milk quotas led to much of this growth, which indicates that the national herd grew by 27% in the past seven years.
While dairy cow numbers have been on the up, beef cow numbers have seen a drop. Statistics indicated stability in 2011, but this was followed by last year’s drop of 4.56% – the biggest decrease since 2014.
The ICBF also provided figures for the makeup of the national herd by breed. It found that comparative to previous years’ data, traditional breeds are performing much better than their continental counterparts. This was expected in light of the traditional breeds’ heavy usage in the dairy herd, and the national dairy herd continuing to grow.
Since the abolition of milk quota in 2015, Angus-sired calf registrations have increased by nearly 90,000 in six years. Hereford breed registrations have also increased substantially, with Hereford-sired calves jumping from 190,000 in 2015 to over 265,000 in 2020. But where breeds were predominantly associated with the national beef herd, numbers have dropped.
LSL News.