| Livestock Numbers | |||
| Cattle | Sheep | Pigs | |
| '000 | |||
| 2015 | 6,422.2 | 3,324.8 | 1,474.5 |
| 2016 | 6,613.4 | 3,438.2 | 1,527.8 |
| % change | +3.0 | +3.4 | +3.6 |
The results of the December 2016 Livestock Survey show that the total number of cattle was 6,613,400 an increase of 191,200 (+3.0%) on December 2015. This was mainly due to increases of 118,200 (+7.1%) in Cattle 1-2 years, 55,300 (+4.5%) in Dairy cows and 50,800 (+2.5%) in Cattle under 1 year. See Table 1.
Further comparisons with the December 2015 results indicate that:
| Table 1 Number of Cattle | |||||||
| Description | December 2014 | December 2015 | December 2016 | Change 2015 - 2016 | |||
| ' 000 | ' 000 | % | |||||
| Total cattle | 6,243.1 | 6,422.2 | 6,613.4 | 191.2 | 3.0 | ||
| Dairy cows1 | 1,127.7 | 1,239.9 | 1,295.2 | 55.3 | 4.5 | ||
| Other cows | 1,041.2 | 1,053.2 | 1,042.0 | -11.2 | -1.1 | ||
| Bulls2 | 35.9 | 28.7 | 19.5 | -9.2 | -32.2 | ||
| Cattle male: 2 years and over | 199.4 | 173.5 | 162.7 | -10.7 | -6.2 | ||
| Cattle female: 2 years and over | 304.5 | 241.3 | 239.3 | -2.0 | -0.8 | ||
| Cattle male: 1-2 years | 755.9 | 762.6 | 824.5 | 61.8 | 8.1 | ||
| Cattle female: 1-2 years | 892.7 | 897.3 | 953.6 | 56.4 | 6.3 | ||
| Cattle male: under 1 year | 901.1 | 982.0 | 1,011.3 | 29.3 | 3.0 | ||
| Cattle female: under 1 year | 984.6 | 1,043.7 | 1,065.3 | 21.6 | 2.1 | ||
| Total cattle male | 1,892.3 | 1,946.9 | 2,018.0 | 71.1 | 3.7 | ||
| Total cattle female | 4,350.7 | 4,475.4 | 4,595.5 | 120.1 | 2.7 | ||
| 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 | |||||
| Description | December 2014 | December 2015 | December 2016 | Change 2015 - 2016 | |
| ' 000 | ' 000 | % | |||
| Total sheep | 3,324.9 | 3,324.8 | 3,438.2 | 113.4 | 3.4 |
| Breeding sheep | 2,503.6 | 2,485.9 | 2,479.7 | -6.1 | -0.2 |
| Ewes: 2 years and over | 1,980.1 | 1,946.4 | 1,934.3 | -12.1 | -0.6 |
| Ewes: under 2 years | 450.1 | 465.9 | 470.9 | 4.9 | 1.1 |
| Rams | 73.4 | 73.5 | 74.6 | 1.0 | 1.4 |
| Other sheep | 821.3 | 839.0 | 958.5 | 119.5 | 14.2 |
| Table 3 Number of Pigs | |||||
| Description | December 2014 | December 2015 | December 2016 | Change 2015 - 2016 | |
| ' 000 | ' 000 | % | |||
| Total pigs | 1,505.7 | 1,474.5 | 1,527.8 | 53.3 | 3.6 |
| Breeding pigs | 147.0 | 140.1 | 146.6 | 6.5 | 4.6 |
| Gilts in pig | 19.5 | 19.9 | 18.8 | -1.0 | -5.2 |
| Sows in pig | 82.5 | 78.4 | 78.9 | 0.5 | 0.6 |
| Other Sows for breeding | 28.3 | 26.0 | 32.0 | 6.1 | 23.4 |
| Gilts not yet served 1 | 15.2 | 14.6 | 15.7 | 1.1 | 7.3 |
| Boars | 1.5 | 1.3 | 1.2 | -0.1 | -4.5 |
| Other pigs | 1,358.6 | 1,334.4 | 1,381.2 | 46.8 | 3.5 |
| Pigs 80kg and over | 238.2 | 239.2 | 259.6 | 20.4 | 8.5 |
| Pigs 50kg and under 80kg | 296.8 | 290.3 | 285.5 | -4.8 | -1.6 |
| Pigs 20kg and under 50kg | 384.5 | 396.9 | 409.9 | 13.0 | 3.3 |
| Less than 20kg | 439.0 | 408.0 | 426.2 | 18.2 | 4.5 |
| 1 Gilts of at least 50kg liveweight intended for breeding but not yet served. | |||||
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 2016 results for sheep are based on the trends obtained by comparing the returns from the December 2016 sample with the 2015 returns for the same 7,800 farms and applying these trends to the December 2015 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.
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