Drop in calf registrations so far this year revealed by analyst
CALF registrations in Northern Ireland (NI) have experienced a year-on-year decrease of 6.9 per cent in the opening month of 2024, the Livestock and Meat Commission reported this week.
Data from the Northern Ireland Food Animal
Information System (NIFAS) confirms that a total of 40,587 calves were registered in January, 2024 – back 6.9 per cent from the corresponding month last year.
LMC agricultural market analyst, Claire Mcanearney, said: “Calf registrations are down across the board for all breed categories, but what we have seen is that Aberdeen Angus is likely to remain a clear top choice of sire selection going into 2024.”
Supporting this fact, she referred to registration statistics that point to a marginal decline of 2.2 per cent year-on-year for Aberdeen Angus (AA) sired calves registered for the month of January in Northern Ireland.
She added: “The secondmost popular calf breed in the opening month of this year was
Limousin, followed closely by Charolais.
“Early indications show that we are unlikely to see any major shake-up to these leaders for sire choice in the early part of 2024.”
Like the beef sector, the dairy sector also recorded a decline in calf registrations during the aforementioned period.
January totalled 25,733 head of beef sired calves, a drop of 7 per cent from January, 2023, and 14,584 head of dairy sired calves, back 6.7 per cent from January, 2023.
The expert LMC agricultural market analyst added: “The opening month for 2021, 2022 and 2023 recorded year-onyear increases in the number of calf birth registrations, making 2024 the first change-up for books in some time.
“As we move further into 2024, we will continue to monitor and report on calf registrations with timely updates shared in the Market Information section of our website, www.lmcni.com.”