There have been 38,000 fewer calf registrations to date this year, as of Friday, May 16, according to the latest calf registration figures from the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) .

As of Friday, May 16, a total of 1,763,046 calves had been registered. This figure is down 38,054 head on the 1,801,100 calves registered in the same time period of last year.

The number of suckler-bred calves registered this year has fallen by 11,500 head to 390,706 from the 402,270 registered this time last year.

The number of calves registered to dairy-bred cows to date this year has fallen by 26,500 head, with 1,372,340 calves registered to dairy-breed dams as of Friday, May 16.

Pedigree registrations have also declined, according to the ICBF figures, with 69,500 pedigree registrations to date this year - down 22,300 from the same time last year.

The big talking point in the calf trade this year has been the significant uplift in prices paid for calves.

After a number of tricky years for the calf trade that led to subdued prices and a difficult trade for plainer-type calves, spring 2025 saw prices continue to rise as the year progressed.

The largest volumes of calves have now been sold from most spring-calving dairy herds but there are still reasonable numbers of calves available for sale around the country.

According to the ICBF calf price data for dairy-bred calves traded at marts in the week ending Sunday, May 11, Angus bull calves from 3-6 weeks-of-age averaged €434/calf up €32 from the previous week. Angus heifer calves from 3-6 weeks-of-age averaged €328/calf last week.

Hereford bull and heifer calves from 3-6 weeks-of-age averaged €444 and €349/head respectively last week.

Belgian Blue bull and heifer calves of the same age averaged €540 and €519/calf respectively, with Charolais bull and heifer calves averaging €496 and €418.