The recently published calving statistics for 2023 (see Table 1) show the bull (IG) Knockenright Chessman at the top of the list with 13,225 calves registered. (IG) Bauravillia Pistol comes in a close second with 12,679 calves registered and in third place is (IG) Doonmanagh Seville, who incidentally was the number 1 used bull in 2022 with 25,548 calves registered.
The data clearly highlights that Dairy farmers are embracing the message of using bigger bull teams, to help minimise the risk in a bulls proofs falling and not overusing any one particular bull as was the case previously.
Analysis of the 2023 data shows us that 50 dairy AI bulls were responsible for 50% of dairy calves produced, whereas in 2022, 45 bulls were responsible for the 50% produced. If we go back and look at the 2018 data, 28 bulls were responsible for 50% of the dairy calves.
The evidence is clear, dairy farmers are not overusing any one AI bull and are also using more bulls in the bull team. For more information on bull usage visit our statistics page https://www.icbf.com/ai-bull-statistics/