Over 500,000 calf samples have now been received by the national genotyping lab this year, as the programme rolls past its tenth week in 2026.

The latest update from the Irish Cattle Breeders Federation (ICBF), shows that 90,680 calf samples were received in the lab in the last week alone.

There were 87,437 samples processed in the lab in week 10, with an average turnaround time from birth to a passport being issued standing at 14.3 days.

ICBF noted that it was taking 7.8 days on average from birth to samples being received in the lab.

This is up from the week prior, where it was taking 7.1 days for an average sample to be received in the lab after birth.

The average time a sample spent in the lab last week was 4.2 days, which is actually down from week 9 when it was taking 4.3 days.

ICBF confirmed that in the last week of February, the lab had already experienced an increase of 20% in terms of samples received compared to this time last year.

Therefore, farmers are being reminded to post DNA and BVD samples at least twice weekly on set days (e.g., Monday and Wednesday) and stick to them, to minimise any delays.

Calf sales

ICBF referred to mart data to highlight that there is only 0.6 days average age difference between Non‑NGP and NGP calves sold through marts.

With such a poor milk price this spring, dairy farmers are relying on calf sales to act as a cash flow buffer until prices turn.

Meanwhile, even as beef prices slip, some buyers are still out of reach when looking to buy weanlings in the marts and are therefore opting to buy strong calves instead.

This has been evident at calf sales over the last few weeks, as calves over the 60kg mark are making prices that were unthinkable this time two years ago.

Therefore calves are clearly hitting the mart later than they may have in previous years, as farmers are opting to keep them on, feeding them whole milk until three to four weeks-of-age in hopes of getting stronger prices.