The number of dairy calves registered in the week ending 21 February 2025 was over 26,000 head lower year-on-year.
The number of dairy calves on the ground so far in 2025 is lagging behind the corresponding period in 2024.
According to the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF), the birth registration data shows 440,735 dairy calves registered up to Friday 21 February this year.
For the corresponding period in 2024, over 26,000 more dairy calves had been registered (467,083).
On a weekly comparison, this week last year saw 8,200 more calves registered.
Genotyping delays
A small proportion of these decreases may be down to genotyping delays. Close to 78,000 samples arrived in the genotyping lab last week, up from 52,000 the week before. This marked ICBF’s largest influx of calf samples to arrive to date this year.
The average time a sample spent in the lab last week increased from 4.1 days to 4.7 days.
To date in 2025, 194,889 DNA samples have been received by ICBF.
You can now read the most important #news on #eDairyNews #Whatsapp channels!!!
🇺🇸 eDairy News INGLÊS: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaKsjzGDTkJyIN6hcP1K
