DESPITE a year on year decline in the number of beef calves registered with the British Cattle Movement Service, the Beef Shorthorn is increasing its share.

According to EBLEX, the number of calves available for beef registered in the country fell by nearly 83,000 in the year to September – a decline of nearly four per cent.

However, during the year, 10,368 Beef Shorthorn and Beef Shorthorn cross calves were registered compared with 9,576 in the previous year – a total increase of 792 births and the equivalent of an increase of more than eight per cent year on year.

The BCMS figures show a total of 2.63m calves registered in Great Britain between September 2007 and August 2008.

Discounting some 421,000 dairy heifer registrations, it leaves just under 2.21m calves destined for the beef industry – down from 2.29m the year previously.

Frank Milnes, Beef Shorthorn Cattle Society secretary, said: “As the Beef Shorthorn is not used primarily as a terminal sire, the increased number of beef-sired calves reflects the growing recognition of the Beef Shorthorn’s maternal attributes.”

The growth follows the 2007 figures when the society registered its highest number of pedigree calves for four decades – almost equalling 1960 before the introduction of continental breeds to the UK.

In 2007, 504 members registered more than 2,000 calves from 302 herds. That compared to a decade ago when approximately 200 members registered 416 calves, In 1960, five years after the beef and dairy sections of the herdbook were divided, there were 2,204 registrations.

Over the last decade, there has been a steady growth in interest in the Beef Shorthorn which, although traditionally recognised for its maternal qualities, is now being regarded as an all-round commercial breed.