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Almost 517,000 calf births were registered in NI during the 12-month period ending 30 September 2019, of which 72% of registrations were done using APHIS online, figures from DAERA confirm.
Paper registrations using the MC1 form accounted for just 20% of calf births, with the remaining 8% registered by telephone.
By 2015, online registrations had increased to 59% of all calf births
The 2019 figures are part of an increasing year-on-year trend with more herdowners moving to paperless registrations.
Back in 2010, 30% of calf birth registrations were completed online, with 67% of births registered on paper.
By 2015, online registrations had increased to 59% of all calf births, with paper registrations falling to 36%.
A total of 9,150 herds now use APHIS online, which equates to 56% of all breeding herds in NI. Of these, 91% register 100% of calf births online.
Herd type
However, dairy farmers tend to use the system more than their suckler counterparts.
A total of 2,358 (77%) of all dairy herds register births online, and calf births on dairy farms accounted for 65% of all online registrations in 2019.
By contrast, around half of all suckler herds use APHIS online to register calves.
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