Beef-sired calves drive growth in NI calf registrations
Insight from the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC) has revealed an increase in the number of beef-sired calves registered in Northern Ireland in the first nine months of this year.
A total of 408,204 calves were registered here between January and September, an increase of 2.9% compared to the same period in 2025 and, if maintained, could ease continuing tight supplies going forward. This increase has been marked by a rise in beef sired calves, with a year-on-year increase of 11,369 recorded, while dairy sired calves remained stable, increasing by 158 head or 0.2% over the same period.
Commenting Jacqueline Liddicoat, LMC Head of Market Intelligence and Data Management said: “Beef sired calves continue to dominate registrations, accounting for three quarters (77.4%) of all calves registered here in 2026 to date, the comparative percentage for 2025 is 76.8%.
“Meanwhile, in ROI while beef sired calves account for 72.3% of calf registrations in the year to date, the outlook contrasts to the picture closer to home. To the end of August total calf registrations in ROI were up 1.4% (30,046 head) year-on-year, with the increase driven by an uplift from calves born to a dairy bull (up 46,596 head or 8.6%). Conversely, the number of calves born to a beef bull decreased by 16,550 (-1.1%) in the year, a change from the increasing trend seen in the previous three years.
“In NI, most calves registered in the year to September came from dairy dams (226,766, up 2.2% from 2025). What we are seeing is dairy dam registrations remaining marginally ahead of beef dams at this time, with some suggestion sire choice may be influenced by dairy producers opting for beef-cross calves in the hope of more favourable market returns.”
Concluding Jacqueline noted: “The turnaround seen in registrations of calves from beef herds to September (+3.7%) has reversed the fall in 2025 of –1.9% which had followed a continued decline in numbers of beef calves registered in the two previous years. The increase could be seen as a response by producers to improved prices in 2025 and into 2026, bringing some stability and confidence into the market. The statistics for calf registrations for the year-to-date show an interesting and contrasting pattern across the island of Ireland, with beef sired calves gaining ground in NI while dairy sired calves edge ahead in ROI. This is a trend we will continue to monitor throughout the seasonal autumn calving period and as further registration statistics begin to become available later in the year.”