ICBF AGM views data on causes of falling carcass weights
The Irish Cattle Breeding Federation's (ICBF's) annual general meeting (AGM) took place on Thursday, May 8, in Portlaoise, Co. Laois.
The event was attended by the ICBF board of directors, which includes representatives from the Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (DAFM), farm lobby groups, artificial insemination (AI) companies, and cattle breed societies.
Data on trends in the performance and the genetic composition of the national herd was presented at the event, as well as updates on ICBF finances.
A presentation on cattle finishing trends outlined that the carcass weights of suckler-bred cattle has been generally increasing since 2010, but dairy x beef and dairy x dairy carcass weights have been declining.
The data below outlines some of the key beef performance traits of cattle by breed type since 2010:
Source: ICBF
The AGM was told that suckler cattle quality is not declining because of the Euro-Star indices.
It was also claimed at the meeting that the quality of beef cattle from the dairy herd 'has been declining', but that this is due to the decline in the beef merit of the dairy cow.
Also noted at the AGM was the 3% drop in dairy cow numbers ,and the 6% drop in suckler-cow numbers in the past year.
The graph and table below illustrate trends in cow numbers over the past decade:
Source: ICBF
On April 1, 2025, there were over 98,000 fewer cows in Ireland than on April 1, 2024, with 50,800 fewer dairy cows and 47,500 fewer suckler cows.
ICBF financials
It was outlined that while the ICBF is 'not for profit', it cannot be for loss either and so aims for a 2% margin to ensure it breaks even. A 2.1% margin was achieved in 2024.
In 2024, the ICBF income was approximately 23.7 million, down from 23.8 million in 2023.
Expenditure was described as 'steady' year-on-year at approximately €23.4 million in 2023 versus €23.1 million in 2024.
In 2023, the ICBF surplus after tax was €428,000 versus €507,000 in 2024, resulting in a 2024 margin of 2.1%.
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