Irish calf export numbers to date this year are running 20% or 17,000 head below last year, according to the latest figures from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).

Just under 66,800 head of calves have been exported from Ireland as of Sunday, March 29, a decline of 17,090 on the near 83,900 calves exported in the same 13-week period last year.

Total Irish cattle exports for 2026 are down 26% or nearly 33,000 head, with just over 91,300 cattle (including calves exported from Ireland as of Sunday, March 29 versus the 124,000 exported in the same time of last year.

The table below details Irish cattle exports by category for the first 13 weeks of 2024, 2025, and 2026:

Signals from key markets on mainland Europe for Irish calves would suggest firm demand amid continued tight calf supplies on mainland Europe.

Looking at export numbers by destination country, the largest markets on a per head of cattle exported basis to date this year are the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, and Northern Ireland respectively.

The Netherlands and Spain are the two largest export market destinations for Irish calves.

Export numbers to the Netherlands are down 4% to just under 29,200 to date while exports to Spain are down 35% to 26,655.

Cattle exports to Northern Ireland are down 41% to just under 10,300 to date this year.

Bluetongue restrictions impacted the trade of cattle for further production from Ireland to Northern Ireland earlier this year.

A combination of factors led to Irish cattle exports getting off to a slow start this year but there has been more of an uplift in recent weeks.

As farmers selling or buying calves will know, the 2026 calf trade is almost unrecognisable from that of the calf trade in 2024.

Calf prices have enjoyed a significant uplift in the past two years with significant positivity seen in the trade despite declines in calf prices in the past two weeks.