According to BCMS, registered births to dairy dams in the latest quarter (Jul- Sep) were up 4.2% on the same period last year. This represents just over 18,000 additional registrations. A similar jump in birth registrations was seen in the first quarter of the year (Jan-Mar), which were up 5.9% on the year.
Higher registrations were expected this year in response to changes in milk buyers’ policies on bull calves. However, there was little change in the number of birth registrations in Q2, suggesting the new policies do not fully explain the increase. In line with patterns emerging over the past few years, there has been a general shift towards spring and autumn calving, which has elevated the peaks during Q1 and Q3.
Total birth registrations in the 12 months to September stand at 1,512k head, 3.7% higher when compared to year earlier figures, and 3.1% above the five-year average. This is contributing to the rise in youngstock numbers, which surpassed 930k head as of 1 Oct, an increase of 5.3% on the year.
