Back to Top

 Skip navigation

Extra information
For more information on this release:
E-mail: agri@cso.ie Hilda McCarthy (+353) 21 453 5084 Angela Hickey (+353) 21 453 5316
For general information on CSO statistics:
information@cso.ie (+353) 21 453 5000 On-line ISSN 0791-3133
CSO statistical release, , 11am

Livestock Survey December

December 2013

       Livestock Numbers
  Cattle Sheep   Pigs
 '000
20126,253.23,430.31,493.0
20136,309.13,324.11,468.5
% change+0.9-3.1-1.6

Sheep Numbers down 3.1% in December 2013

Figure 1 LSD Livestock Numbers
go to full release

The results of the December 2013 livestock survey show that the total number of sheep was 3,324,100 a decrease of 106,200 (-3.1%) on December 2012.  This was mainly due to decreases of 76,200 (-8.9%) in non-breeding sheep and 37,800 (-7.4%) in ewes under 2 years. See Table 2.

Further comparisons with the December 2012 results indicate that: 

  • The total number of cattle increased by 55,800 (+0.9%) to 6,309,100.
  • The number of dairy cows increased by 22,200 (+2.1%) while other cows decreased by 42,800 (-3.8%). See Table 1.
  • The total number of cattle under 1 year decreased by 93,300, or 4.7%. See Table 1.
  • Total pig numbers decreased by 1.6% to 1,468,500. The number of non-breeding pigs was down 1.8% while the number of breeding pigs showed a slight increase at 145,200, up just 0.1%. See Table 3.
Table 1 Number of Cattle
DescriptionDecember 2011December 2012December 2013   Change 2012 - 2013
' 000 ' 000 %
Total cattle5,925.36,253.26,309.155.80.9
      
    Dairy cows11,035.61,060.31,082.522.22.1
    Other cows1,083.01,127.91,085.1-42.8-3.8
      
    Bulls235.038.837.3-1.5-3.8
      
    Cattle male: 2 years and over174.9160.2207.647.429.6
    Cattle female: 2 years and over287.1262.6289.126.510.1
      
    Cattle male: 1-2 years629.7736.9803.866.99.1
    Cattle female: 1-2 years812.0880.0910.430.43.5
      
    Cattle male: under 1 year902.0987.6914.2-73.3-7.4
    Cattle female: under 1 year966.0999.0979.1-20.0-2.0
      
  Total cattle male1,741.51,923.41,962.939.52.1
  Total cattle female4,183.84,329.94,346.216.30.4
         
1 Dairy cows are those kept principally to produce milk for human consumption.
2 Bulls used for breeding purposes only.
Table 2 Number of Sheep
DescriptionDecember 2011December 2012December 2013   Change 2012 - 2013
' 000 ' 000 %
Total sheep3,321.33,430.33,324.1-106.2-3.1
      
  Breeding sheep2,524.22,576.32,546.3-30.0-1.2
      
    Ewes: 2 years and over1,932.01,989.11,998.89.70.5
    Ewes: under 2 years518.8511.8474.0-37.8-7.4
      
    Rams73.475.473.4-2.0-2.6
      
  Other sheep797.1854.0777.8-76.2-8.9
Table 3 Number of Pigs
DescriptionDecember 2011December 2012December 2013   Change 2012 - 2013
' 000 ' 000 %
Total pigs1,552.91,493.01,468.5-24.5-1.6
     
  Breeding pigs147.7145.1145.20.10.1
     
    Gilts in pig18.220.719.1-1.7-8.1
    Sows in pig88.982.679.4-3.2-3.8
    Other Sows for breeding23.425.729.84.216.2
    Gilts not yet served115.915.216.00.85.5
    Boars1.20.90.90.0-4.9
     
  Other pigs1,405.31,347.91,323.3-24.6-1.8
     
    Pigs 80kg and over219.7228.8242.013.25.8
    Pigs 50kg and under 80kg335.0298.7273.4-25.3-8.5
    Pigs 20kg and under 50kg402.7412.6380.6-32.0-7.8
    Less than 20kg447.9407.7427.219.54.8
1 Gilts of at least 50kg liveweight intended for breeding but not yet served.

Background Notes

 

Coverage    Farms where the agricultural area used was at least one hectare (2.47 acres) are included in the December Livestock Sample Survey. Farms with less than one hectare may also be included if they were engaged in intensive production.

Definition    A farm is defined in accordance with the definition adopted for the EU surveys as

                      a single unit, both technically and economically, which has a single management 

                      and which provides agricultural products.

Sources                

Cattle: The results for cattle are obtained from Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine (DAFM) Animal Identification and Movement (AIM) system. This system was introduced at the beginning of 2000 and involves electronically recording data on animal movements.

Sheep: The December 2013 results for sheep are based on the trends obtained by comparing the returns from the December 2013 sample with the 2012 returns for the same 7,500 farms and applying these trends to the December 2012 figures.

Pigs: A specialist pig survey was conducted by the CSO due to the intensive nature of this activity.

 

Rounding     As the figures in the text have been rounded to the nearest 100 units there may be slight discrepancies between the sum (or difference) of the constituent items and the total shown.

 

 

 

 

upArrowHide Background Notes

Scan the QR code below to view this release online or go to
http://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/lsd/livestocksurveydecember2013/