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Statistical Yearbook of Ireland 2021: Part 3 Travel, Agriculture, Environment and COVID-19

Crops and Livestock

7.3 m

Cattle numbers 7.3m in June 2020, up 1.5% on 2019

This chapter contains information on June crops and livestock numbers in Ireland for the period 1850 to 2020. The statistics are drawn from CSO surveys (including a joint survey conducted by Teagasc and the CSO) and administrative data from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF). Livestock Slaughterings provides details on the number of cattle, sheep and pigs slaughtered. These figures include slaughterings at both meat establishments approved by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and slaughterhouses and meat plants approved by Local Authorities under S.I. 432 of 2009.

Area under crops and pasture in June

Table 24.1 Area under crops and pasture in June
'000 Hectares
Crop	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Total wheat	94.2	98.0	60.6	71.6	65.3	67.9	67.0	58.0	63.5	47.0
Winter	77.7	84.6	45.4	65.1	55.3	60.4	60.3	54.4	59.7	35.4
Spring	16.4	13.5	15.2	6.5	10.1	7.5	6.8	3.6	3.8	11.5
Total oats	21.4	23.7	26.7	18.6	23.4	23.2	24.4	17.8	23.8	25.4
Winter	9.0	9.9	5.4	10.1	11.4	13.2	14.4	10.2	16.6	8.3
Spring	12.4	13.8	21.3	8.5	12.1	10.0	10.0	7.6	7.2	17.2
Total barley	180.6	192.8	219.4	215.7	202.8	189.2	180.2	185.2	179.4	193.2
Winter	35.9	41.0	36.0	60.1	69.8	74.6	65.0	57.9	82.8	51.5
Spring	144.8	151.8	183.5	155.6	133.0	114.6	115.2	127.4	96.5	141.7
Other cereals	1.2	0.9	1.1	0.8	0.9	0.8	0.8	0.6	1.0	1.0
Total cereals	297.4	315.4	307.8	306.7	292.4	281.1	272.4	261.6	267.7	266.6

Total crops, fruit and horticulture	365.4	382.1	377.2	367.7	361.6	365.8	365.6	357.0	356.7	359.6

Silage	1,070.2	1,075.0	1,071.0	1,077.6	1,071.1	1,066.8	1,088.9	1,064.5	1,088.7	1,199.0
Hay	213.2	203.5	218.4	217.9	195.7	188.4	192.1	191.9	180.8	169.7
Pasture	2,459.3	2,391.0	2,337.7	2,308.4	2,299.4	2,307.8	2,322.7	2,378.7	2,376.7	2,311.5

Crops and pasture	4,108.2	4,051.5	4,004.3	3,971.5	3,927.9	3,928.8	3,969.3	3,992.2	4,002.8	4,039.8

Rough grazing in use	447.3	481.2	473.5	494.2	503.6	532.4	520.2	524.1	521.5	471.8

Area farmed	4,555.5	4,532.7	4,477.8	4,465.8	4,431.4	4,461.2	4,489.5	4,516.3	4,524.4	4,511.6
Source: CSO and Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Open in Excel: Statistical Yearbook of Ireland Table 24.1 (XLS 11KB)

The total area farmed in 2020 was 4.5 million hectares. Crops, fruit and horticulture accounted for 8.0% of that area, silage for 26.6%, hay for 3.8%, pasture for 51.2% and rough grazing for 10.5%.

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Production of Crops

Table 24.2 Production of crops
'000 Tonnes
Crop	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Total wheat	929.2	707.9	545.3	717.0	696.6	647.7	681.7	506.8	636.0	393.0
Winter	792.9	625.7	422.1	663.4	610.1	587.5	626.6	484.6	604.6	307.6
Spring	136.4	82.2	123.3	53.6	86.5	60.3	55.2	22.2	31.4	85.4

Total oats	168.1	156.5	192.5	149.7	197.7	183.3	205.0	122.3	202.6	189.9
Winter	70.5	68.2	43.4	87.8	104.7	110.3	128.7	80.1	147.2	67.6
Spring	97.6	88.4	149.1	61.9	93.0	73.0	76.4	42.2	55.5	122.3

Total barley	1,412.0	1,260.7	1,662.8	1,731.2	1,739.2	1,479.9	1,505.8	1,224.9	1,557.6	1,430.3
Winter	326.3	319.8	341.8	558.7	711.9	644.4	592.2	508.8	780.8	426.3
Spring	1,085.8	940.9	1,320.9	1,172.5	1,027.4	835.5	913.7	716.1	776.7	1,004.0

Total wheat, oats, barley	2,509.4	2,125.1	2,400.6	2,597.8	2,633.6	2,310.9	2,392.6	1,853.9	2,396.2	2,013.2

Beans and peas	16.5	19.7	23.3	20.3	69.3	70.6	90.2	22.7	44.0	65.7
Oilseed rape	55.9	58.7	49.2	34.2	39.9	34.1	41.7	40.9	38.4	45.1
Potatoes	356.1	232.0	410.1	383.0	360.1	352.0	412.4	273.0	382.4	300.1
Source: CSO, Teagasc and Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Open in Excel: Statistical Yearbook of Ireland Table 24.2 (XLS 11KB)

21.5%

Decrease in production of potatoes between 2019 and 2020

X-axis label	Winter Wheat	Spring Wheat	Winter Oats	Spring Oats	Winter Barley	Spring Barley	Beans and Peas	Oilseed Rape	Potatoes
2011	793	136	71	98	326	1086	16	56	356
2012	626	82	68	88	320	941	20	59	232
2013	422	123	43	149	342	1321	23	49	410
2014	663	54	88	62	559	1172	20	34	383
2015	610	86	105	93	712	1027	69	40	360
2016	587	60	110	73	644	836	71	34	352
2017	627	55	129	76	592	914	90	42	412
2018	485	22	80	42	509	716	23	41	273
2019	605	31	147	55	781	777	44	38	382
2020	308	85	68	122	426	1004	66	45	300

Area under selected crops 1850-2020

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X-axis label	Wheat	Oats	Barley	Potatoes
1850	213	619	118	275
1851	173	641	126	270
1852	125	672	109	275
1853	113	639	113	279
1854	143	596	95	308
1855	155	612	89	309
1856	181	588	71	345
1857	192	565	81	359
1858	185	561	74	360
1859	157	568	69	374
1860	157	560	71	361
1861	133	574	78	349
1862	118	565	76	311
1863	87	566	69	315
1864	96	526	70	322
1865	93	496	72	330
1866	102	488	61	323
1867	88	475	69	308
1868	93	486	75	320
1869	87	481	90	320
1870	80	461	97	319
1871	74	458	89	322
1872	66	451	88	301
1873	50	415	92	272
1874	57	403	85	270
1875	47	408	93	272
1876	35	407	88	266
1877	42	403	90	262
1878	48	380	97	254
1879	48	356	101	252
1880	45	378	87	247
1881	47	383	83	257
1882	46	385	74	252
1883	27	381	73	242
1884	19	371	67	240
1885	20	363	71	239
1886	19	365	72	239
1887	18	362	65	238
1888	29	348	68	239
1889	28	335	74	235
1890	28	329	73	232
1891	24	328	71	222
1892	22	330	70	218
1893	16	336	67	212
1894	14	340	66	211
1895	10	329	69	208
1896	11	318	69	206
1897	13	313	68	199
1898	15	313	63	195
1899	15	301	67	194
1900	15	293	69	191
1901	13	293	64	186
1902	13	287	67	183
1903	11	293	63	181
1904	9	287	63	179
1905	11	283	62	177
1906	13	287	70	178
1907	12	290	67	172
1908	12	286	61	169
1909	14	276	64	167
1910	15	289	67	173
1911	15	284	63	172
1912	15	281	66	170
1913	11	284	68	168
1914	12	281	68	167
1915	29	299	57	172
1916	26	294	60	172
1917	43	420	71	210
1918	55	457	74	205
1919	24	410	74	172
1920	18	366	82	170
1921	16	332	68	166
1922	15	311	66	165
1923	15	295	59	161
1924	13	279	63	159
1925	9	272	59	154
1926	12	262	57	152
1927	14	261	49	148
1928	13	262	52	147
1929	12	270	48	147
1930	11	261	47	140
1931	8	252	47	140
1932	9	256	42	141
1933	20	257	48	138
1934	38	236	58	139
1935	66	249	56	136
1936	103	226	53	135
1937	89	232	53	132
1938	93	231	48	132
1939	103	217	30	128
1940	124	276	54	148
1941	187	317	66	173
1942	233	355	75	172
1943	206	379	85	165
1944	260	383	68	167
1945	268	338	69	157
1946	260	336	58	158
1947	235	334	59	155
1948	210	356	48	156
1949	147	278	64	142
1950	148	249	50	136
1951	114	251	68	130
1952	103	247	91	125
1953	143	231	76	125
1954	197	216	66	118
1955	145	221	86	116
1956	137	212	96	115
1957	164	186	124	108
1958	170	185	125	106
1959	114	187	135	105
1960	148	172	133	95
1961	140	149	146	86
1962	127	140	164	85
1963	94	134	174	83
1964	87	117	184	74
1965	74	115	188	71
1966	53	98	187	68
1967	76	96	183	65
1968	90	88	184	59
1969	82	77	198	55
1970	95	68	214	57
1971	91	60	235	52
1972	68	52	252	44
1973	58	50	243	48
1974	57	47	246	42
1975	45	49	245	41
1976	50	40	259	47
1977	48	35	298	53
1978	50	31	325	41
1979	50	28	350	41
1980	53	25	366	42
1981	49	23	354	36
1982	57	23	326	37
1983	59	23	305	33
1984	77	26	292	35
1985	78	25	284	32
1986	75	23	265	30
1987	56	23	255	29
1988	59	23	242	27
1989	61	22	237	25
1990	70	22	207	24
1991	86	21	193	20
1992	91	20	184	22
1993	79	20	181	22
1994	74	21	170	21
1995	71	20	179	22
1996	86	21	181	24
1997	94	21	190	18
1998	84	19	191	19
1999	68	20	192	18
2000	78	17	182	14
2001	85	17	182	14
2002	103	19	176	15
2003	96	21	183	14
2004	103	20	184	13
2005	95	17	164	12
2006	88	20	167	12
2007	84	21	168	12
2008	111	23	187	11
2009	85	20	194	12
2010	78	20	175	12
2011	94	21	181	10
2012	98	24	193	9
2013	61	27	219	11
2014	72	19	216	10
2015	65	23	203	9
2016	68	23	189	9
2017	67	24	180	9
2018	58	18	185	8
2019	64	24	179	9
2020	47	25	193	9

There is a long-term decline in the area of wheat, oats and potatoes sown during the time period from 1850 to 2020. The area sown of wheat reached its peak in 1945 at 268,000 hectares and the area under oats reached its peak in 1852 at 672,000 hectares. In 2020 the area sown for wheat and oats stand at 47,000 hectares and 25,000 hectares respectively.

The area of potatoes sown reached its highest value in 1859 at 374,000 hectares. From then onwards the area of potatoes sown has continued to decline with the exception of the war years. In 2020 the area of potatoes sown was 9,000 hectares.

X-axis label	1850
Wheat	17.4
Oats	50.5
Barley	9.6
Potatoes	22.4

X-axis label	2020
Wheat	17.1
Oats	9.3
Barley	70.4
Potatoes	3.2

The total area sown of wheat, oats, barley and potatoes was 1,225,000 hectares in 1850. In the 170 year period since, this has decreased to 274,000 hectares.

In 1850, oats were the most commonly sown crop covering an area of 619,000 hectares or 50.5% of the four main crops sown in Ireland at the time. Over the next 170 years, the area of oats sown reduced to 25,000 hectares. This represents 9.1% of the area sown of the same crops in 2020.

In contrast, the area sown of barley has increased from 118,000 hectares in 1850 to 193,000 hectares in 2020. In 1850, barley represented 9.6% area sown of these four crops, whereas in 2020, barley represented 70.4%.

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24.3 Area under selected crops 1850-2020

Number of livestock in June

Table 24.4 Number of livestock in June
Thousands
Description	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Total cattle	6,493.0	6,754.1	6,902.6	6,926.1	6,963.5	7,221.2	7,363.5	7,348.5	7,208.6	7,314.4
Dairy cows	1,116.9	1,140.8	1,163.2	1,226.4	1,295.8	1,397.9	1,432.7	1,480.9	1,504.8	1,567.7
Other cows	1,123.3	1,148.6	1,150.3	1,129.0	1,075.8	1,103.7	1,081.0	1,047.9	999.7	983.3
Other cattle	4,252.8	4,464.7	4,589.2	4,570.7	4,591.9	4,719.6	4,849.9	4,819.7	4,704.1	4,763.5

Total sheep	4,830.0	5,170.0	5,007.0	5,096.8	5,138.7	5,179.2	5,197.1	5,109.3	5,145.8	5,531.1
Rams	73.7	77.7	80.4	77.5	75.8	77.8	78.4	76.0	74.2	84.8
Ewes	2435.2	2,589.3	2,568.2	2,513.9	2,488.1	2,505.0	2,515.2	2,489.5	2,422.3	2,700.1
Other sheep	2321.0	2,503.0	2,358.4	2,505.4	2,574.9	2,596.4	2,603.6	2,543.9	2,649.3	2,746.2

Total pigs	1,549.0	1,570.9	1,552.5	1,555.3	1,536.9	1,594.3	1,556.9	1,621.9	1,616.0	1,632.1
Boars	1.3	1.4	1.4	1.4	1.4	1.4	1.3	1.3	1.1	1.1
Female breeding pigs	154.9	144.6	146.5	150.3	147.8	148.5	143.4	147.4	142.3	142.6
Other pigs	1,392.8	1,425.0	1,404.6	1,403.6	1,387.6	1,444.4	1,412.2	1,473.3	1,472.7	1,488.4

Horses and ponies	106.0	111.1	101.6	95.0	93.1	92.2	84.9	84.3	82.0	88.3
Mules, jennets and asses	8.7	9.8	8.2	8.1	8.9	9.2	10.8	9.2	9.8	10.0
Goats	11.4	10.3	8.7	8.6	10.8	9.9	8.3	9.3	8.7	8.8
Source: CSO and Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Open in Excel: Statistical Yearbook of Ireland Table 24.4 (XLS 13KB)

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5.5 m

Sheep numbers up 7.5% on 2019

1.6 m

Pig numbers up 1% on 2019

Number of cattle, sheep and pigs 1850-2020

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X-axis label	Cattle	Sheep	Pigs
1850	2252	1725	751
1851	2327	1971	902
1852	2457	2448	876
1853	2695	2959	920
1854	2792	3507	1096
1855	2847	3393	994
1856	2868	3477	759
1857	2902	3240	1029
1858	2955	3297	1207
1859	3062	3391	1034
1860	2898	3350	1049
1861	2803	3358	932
1862	2617	3270	954
1863	2539	3138	913
1864	2636	3181	896
1865	2834	3489	1097
1866	3022	4029	1236
1867	2996	4546	1050
1868	2953	4580	751
1869	3031	4350	922
1870	3081	4065	1221
1871	3199	3948	1325
1872	3268	3964	1160
1873	3361	4180	891
1874	3348	4172	916
1875	3346	3988	1029
1876	3342	3765	1165
1877	3238	3739	1221
1878	3271	3847	1068
1879	3338	3779	892
1880	3212	3341	728
1881	3268	3051	924
1882	3283	2880	1170
1883	3367	3016	1139
1884	3384	3059	1071
1885	3467	3261	1036
1886	3423	3132	1033
1887	3412	3117	1146
1888	3347	3350	1111
1889	3370	3478	1136
1890	3501	3955	1286
1891	3660	4295	1108
1892	3716	4396	905
1893	3671	4033	936
1894	3617	3741	1116
1895	3575	3563	1093
1896	3623	3717	1125
1897	3662	3796	1064
1898	3691	3911	1031
1899	3718	3983	1129
1900	3804	3980	1045
1901	3868	3981	1015
1902	3942	3821	1100
1903	3861	3568	1154
1904	3866	3468	1096
1905	3841	3394	945
1906	3836	3352	1001
1907	3889	3425	1085
1908	4020	3703	1046
1909	3942	3729	954
1910	3934	3600	990
1911	3950	3543	1160
1912	4049	3466	1100
1913	4134	3273	895
1914	4237	3234	1083
1915	4060	3207	1008
1916	4167	3355	1089
1917	4132	3327	844
1918	4093	3218	859
1919	4232	3045	863
1920	4261	3016	887
1921	4419	3020	891
1922	4375	2794	938
1923	4278	2666	1186
1924	4268	2726	987
1925	3991	2813	732
1926	3947	3003	884
1927	4047	3120	1178
1928	4125	3263	1183
1929	4137	3375	945
1930	4038	3515	1052
1931	4029	3575	1227
1932	4025	3461	1108
1933	4137	3405	931
1934	4086	2931	968
1935	4019	3042	1088
1936	4014	3062	1017
1937	3955	3000	934
1938	4056	3197	959
1939	4057	3048	931
1940	4023	3071	1049
1941	4150	2909	764
1942	4084	2693	519
1943	4136	2560	434
1944	4246	2663	381
1945	4211	2581	426
1946	4146	2423	479
1947	3950	2094	457
1948	3921	2058	457
1949	4127	2192	675
1950	4322	2385	645
1951	4376	2616	558
1952	4309	2857	719
1953	4397	2930	882
1954	4504	3113	958
1955	4483	3269	799
1956	4537	3439	747
1957	4417	3720	900
1958	4466	4174	948
1959	4684	4412	852
1960	4741	4314	951
1961	4713	4528	1056
1962	4742	4671	1111
1963	4860	4691	1102
1964	4962	4950	1108
1965	5359	5014	1266
1966	5590	4664	1013
1967	5586	4239	985
1968	5572	4077	1063
1969	5688	4006	1116
1970	5956	4082	1192
1971	6177	4163	1322
1972	6527	4208	1199
1973	7113	4184	1108
1974	7413	3962	923
1975	7168	3683	796
1976	6954	3475	925
1977	7124	3534	939
1978	7098	3427	1031
1979	7093	3392	1103
1980	6909	3292	1030
1981	6744	3402	1021
1982	6728	3571	1057
1983	6810	3868	1081
1984	6806	4074	1036
1985	6819	4487	1004
1986	6616	5012	1003
1987	6545	5595	999
1988	6464	6656	1014
1989	6642	7625	1067
1990	6816	8539	1194
1991	6912	8888	1304
1992	6951	8898	1386
1993	6982	8627	1522
1994	6996	8404	1530
1995	7034	8331	1550
1996	7314	7888	1621
1997	7533	8132	1700
1998	7640	8312	1819
1999	7387	7925	1787
2000	7037	7555	1722
2001	7050	7330	1743
2002	6992	7210	1785
2003	7000	6849	1726
2004	7016	6777	1653
2005 1	6992	6392	1688
2006	6978	5973	1643
2007	6891	5522	1588
2008	6902	5061	1462
2009	6891	4778	1385
2010	6607	4745	1516
2011	6493	4830	1549
2012	6754	5170	1571
2013	6903	5007	1553
2014	6926	5097	1555
2015	6964	5139	1537
2016	7221	5179	1594
2017	7364	5197	1557
2018	7349	5109	1622
2019	7209	5146	1616
2020	7314	5531	1632

Table 24.5 Number of cattle, sheep and pigs 1850-2020

Since 1850, the number of cattle has increased, peaking at 7.64 million in 1998. Cattle numbers in 2020 stand at 7.31 million.

The number of sheep in Ireland peaked at 8.90 million in 1992 and since then numbers have fallen sharply to just 5.53 million in 2020.

The number of pigs in 1850 stood at 0.75 million and peaked in 1998 at 1.82 million. Pig numbers were 1.63 million in 2020.

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Livestock Slaughterings

Table 24.6 Livestock Slaughterings
'000 heads
	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Cattle	1,665	1,600	1,716	1,642	1,484	1,589	1,749	1,665	1,744	1,852	1,896	1,853	1,882
Pigs	2,578	2,421	2,657	2,905	2,972	2,904	3,043	3,226	3,317	3,355	3,447	3,457	3,546
Sheep	2,919	2,730	2,383	2,410	2,691	2,874	2,837	2,833	2,892	3,183	3,224	3,050	3,112
Source: CSO

Open in Excel: Statistical Yearbook of Ireland 2021 Table 24.6 (XLS 10KB)

Show Graph - Figure 24.6 Livestock Slaughterings 2008-2020

X-axis label	Cattle	Pigs	Sheep
2008	1.665	2.578	2.919
2009	1.6	2.421	2.73
2010	1.716	2.657	2.383
2011	1.642	2.905	2.41
2012	1.484	2.972	2.691
2013	1.589	2.904	2.874
2014	1.749	3.043	2.837
2015	1.665	3.226	2.833
2016	1.744	3.317	2.892
2017	1.852	3.355	3.183
2018	1.896	3.447	3.224
2019	1.853	3.457	3.05
2020	1.882	3.546	3.112

Cattle slaughterings in 2020 increased by 1.6% in comparison to 2019.

Pig slaughterings in 2020 rose by 2.6% and sheep slaughterings grew by 2.0% in comparison to 2019.

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Table 24.5 Number of Cattle, Sheep and Pigs 1850 - 2020¹
Thousands
Year	Cattle	Sheep	Pigs
1850	2,252	1,725	751
1860	2,898	3,350	1,049
1870	3,081	4,065	1,221
1880	3,212	3,341	728
1890	3,501	3,955	1,286
1900	3,804	3,980	1,045
1910	3,934	3,600	990
1920	4,261	3,016	887
1930	4,038	3,515	1,052
1940	4,023	3,071	1,049
1950	4,322	2,385	645
1960	4,741	4,314	951
1970	5,956	4,082	1,192
1980	6,909	3,292	1,030
1990	6,816	8,539	1,194
2000	7,037	7,555	1,722
2010	6,891	4,778	1,385
2020	7,314	5,531	1,632
Source: CSO and Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
¹New series for cattle from 2005

Statistical Yearbook of Ireland 2021: Part 3 Travel, Agriculture, Environment and COVID-19

Crops and Livestock

Area under crops and pasture in June

Production of Crops

Area under selected crops 1850-2020

Number of livestock in June

Number of cattle, sheep and pigs 1850-2020

Livestock Slaughterings

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Table 24.3 Area under selected crops 1850 - 2020¹
'000 Hectares
Year	Wheat	Oats	Barley	Potatoes
1850	213	619	118	275
1860	157	560	71	361
1870	80	461	97	319
1880	45	378	87	247
1890	28	329	73	232
1900	15	293	69	191
1910	15	289	67	173
1920	18	366	82	170
1930	11	261	47	140
1940	124	276	54	148
1950	148	249	50	136
1960	148	172	133	95
1970	95	68	214	57
1980	53	25	366	42
1990	70	22	207	24
2000	78	17	182	14
2010	78	20	175	12
2020	47	25	193	9
Source: CSO and Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
¹New series from 2008