The number of Cattle in Ireland in June 2024 was 7,183,100 a fall of 158,300 (-2.2%) when compared with June 2023.
Female Cattle aged two years and over increased by 7%, while Female Cattle aged one-two years decreased by 2.0%.
The number of Sheep in June 2024 was 5,175,700 a fall of 498,700 (-8.8%) when compared with June 2023.
The number of Pigs in June 2024 was 1,679,900, up 18,500 (+1.1%) when compared with the previous June.
The area under Total Cereals fell by 10,400 hectares (ha) (-3.8%) to 262,000 ha.
The final figures for June 2024 show that the Area Farmed fell by 3,600 ha to 4,488,400 ha (-0.1%) when compared with June 2023. The area under Crops and Pasture rose to 3,951,800 ha, an increase of 89,600 ha (+2.3%).
| X-axis label | Potatoes | Winter wheat | Spring wheat | Winter oats | Spring oats | Winter barley | Spring barley |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % Change | 13.2 | -20.6 | 54.9 | -25.4 | 29.6 | -18.3 | 3.6 |
The Crops and Pasture regional area data in June 2024 shows that the highest area was in the West region (684,000 ha). The total area under Cereals was down by 10,400 ha to 262,000 ha (-3.8%) which was mainly due to a decrease in the area of Winter Cereals (-20.0%). The Mid-East and Dublin region had the highest area under Cereals (86,100 ha).
The number of cattle in Ireland in June 2024 was 7,183,100, a fall of 158,300 (-2.2%) compared with June 2023.
The number of Dairy Cows fell by 22,700 (-1.4%) while the number of Other Cows dropped by 46,800 (-5.4%) when compared with June 2023. The number of Bulls was higher by 2,600 (+5.6%).
The number of Sheep in June 2024 was 5,175,700, a fall of 498,700 (-8.8%) compared with June 2023. The number of Breeding Sheep fell by 11.9% while the number of Other Sheep fell by 5.1%.
The number of Pigs in June 2024 was 1,679,900, an increase of 18,500 (+1.1%) compared with the previous June. The number of Breeding Pigs increased by 4.9% while the number of Other Pigs increased by 0.7%.
A regional breakdown (by NUTS3 regions) of the total numbers of Sheep and Pigs in June 2024 is provided in Table 4.
The West region had the highest number of Sheep (1,438,700) while the Border region had the highest number of Pigs.
A regional breakdown (by county) of the total number of Cattle in June 2024 is provided in Table 5.
The Southern region had the highest number of Cattle in June 2024, with over a million Cattle in each of the Mid-West, South-West and South-East regions. Cork was the county with the highest number of Cattle, at just over one million (1,077,300).
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (20 May 2025) published the Crops and Livestock Survey Final Results June 2024.
Commenting on the release, Stephanie Kelleher, Statistician in the Agriculture Division, said: "The final results for June 2024 show that the total number of Sheep in the country fell by 498,700 (-8.8%) to 5,175,700 when compared with June 2023. The number of Other Sheep fell by 134,300 (-5.1%) to 2,490,500.
The total number of Cattle in the country decreased by 158,300 (-2.2%) to 7,183,100 when compared with June 2023. The total number of Dairy Cows fell by 22,700 (-1.4%) while the total number of Other Cows declined by 46,800 (-5.4%). The total number of Cattle aged two years and over rose by 20,700 (+2.6%) in the year since 2023.
A regional analysis of the livestock numbers shows that the largest number of Cattle (1,440,200) were in the Mid-West region, the largest number of Sheep (1,438,700) were in the West region and the largest number of Pigs (380,200) were in the Border region.
Regarding the three main cereals, the land areas under winter wheat, winter oats and winter barley decreased by 10,600 ha (-20.6%), 2,500 ha (-25.4%) and 9,700 ha (-18.3%) respectively in June 2024. The areas under spring wheat, spring oats and spring barley increased by 2,500 ha (+54.9%), 5,100 ha (+29.6%) and 4,800 ha (+3.6%) compared with June 2023.
Users may also be interested in Agriculture Prices and Agriculture Accounts for this period."