The number of suckler-bred beef calves born in Ireland in the second half of 2023 was 157,847, according to a report released by the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) this week.

Of the 157,847 calves registered, roughly 20% or 32,832 were registered to an AI sire during this period.

Below is a list of the top 10 AI sires of the autumn 2023-born suckler progeny based on sires recorded.

These 10 sires account for 36% of all the AI suckler progeny born in the second half of 2023. The list is dominated by Charolais and Limousin sires, along with one Belgian Blue.

As indicated by the ICBF data, the bull with the highest amount of registrations in autumn 2023 was the Charolais AI sire Lapon.

Charolais bull Lapon. \ Alfie Shaw

Lapon is a son of Howard and out of a Tryphon dam and ranks 9% for calving difficulty on heifers and 4.9% on cows.

The 10 sires listed above have an average replacement index of €107, with relatively high reliability across all the sires and very high in some cases.