The average turnaround time from calving to the issuing of a calf passport was 13.1 days, last week, one day slower than the week previous.

Updated figures from the Irish Cattle and Breeding Federation (ICBF) under the National Genotyping Programme show that last week, almost 45,000 samples were received in labs and in excess of 45,000 samples were processed.

The average time from birth to sample being received in the lab was 8.9 days.

The average time a sample spent in the lab last week was 3.7 days.

400,000 samples

To date, the programme has received over 430,509 samples, with 415,301 calf samples genotyped.

A total of 400,807 calf passports issued had been issued to farmers as of last week.

The ICBF said that as the country heads towards the final leg of the 2024 spring calving season, farmers are sending off samples less regularly than at the peak.

"This has resulted in an increase of 2.1 days from birth to the sample being received in the lab. Subsequently, the average turnaround time from birth to passport being issued has increased by one day," it said.

The National Genotyping Programme came in for criticism last month when farmers reported delays in receiving genotyping information. Farmers said that this had a knock-on effect on the sales of young calves, with many farmers forced to keep calves longer than planned.

The ICBF then moved to make two changes to the issuing of passports.

Passports began to issue automatically if a sample was on-hand in a lab for 10 days or when a sample was found to be unsuitable or empty.