The total number of Irish calves registered in 2026 is set to surpass the 1.6 million mark this week.

According to data from the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF), 1,595,375 calves have been registered as of Friday, April 24.

Despite the fact that spring calving is as good as finished on the majority of dairy farms, there are still plenty of calves coming into the system.

In the last week alone, 78,238 calves were registered, according to ICBF.

This is well down from the peak season in February and early March, where up to and even over 180,000 calves were being registered on a weekly basis.

However, this week's calf registrations are still 7,751 head higher than the same week last year, with total births running 29,180 above last year's figures.

Calf registrations

During the week, 46,010 calves were registered to dairy dams, which was 2,996 more than the same week in 2025.

This has brought the total amount of calves registered to dairy dams for the year-to-date up to 1,289,622.

That means dairy calves are running 16,009 head above last year's figures.

Moving to the calves registered to beef dams, some 32,228 were registered in the week ending April 24, which is 4,755 head more than the same week in 2025.

This has brought the total number of calves registered to beef dams up to 305,753.

That means the total amount of suckler calves born in 2026 is running 13,171 ahead of last year's figures.

NGP

In terms of the National Genotyping Programme (NGP), 44,896 calf samples were received in the lab last week.

According to ICBF, 49,314 calf samples were processed in the lab last week, spending an average of 3.7 days there.

The average turnaround time from birth to the passport being issued has stretched out as far as 18.7 days, as samples are now taking 10.4 days to get to the lab after the calf is born.