Back to Top

 Skip navigation

Extra information
For more information on this release:
E-mail: agri@cso.ie Paul Deane (+353) 21 453 5560 Carmel Hinchion (+353) 21 453 5272 Lisa Horan (+353) 21 453 5791
For general information on CSO statistics:
information@cso.ie (+353) 21 453 5000 On-line ISSN 1393-7278
CSO statistical release, , 11am

Crops and Livestock Survey June Provisional Estimates

June 2019

   Total Cereals  Cattle   Sheep
     '000 hectares(ha)  
     '000      '000
June 2018261.67,348.55,109.3
June 2019266.77,208.65,142.4
% change+2.0-1.9+0.6

Area under cereals up 2.0% in June 2019

Figure 1 Percentage change in Selected Item June 2018/2019
go to full release

Preliminary estimates for June 2019 show that the area under cereals increased by 5,100 hectares (ha) (2.0%) to 266,700 ha when compared to June 2018. 

The area under oats increased by 5,900 ha to 23,700 while the area under wheat increased by 5,200 to 63,200 ha. The area under barley decreased by 6,400 ha to 178,800 ha.

See Table 1 and Figure 2.

The total cattle numbers were down by 139,900 (-1.9%) to 7,208,600. The number of other cows dropped by 48,200 (-4.6%), while the number of dairy cows was up by 23,900 (+1.6%). The total number of cattle less than 2 years decreased by 128,400 (-3.2%). At the same time, the number of cattle 2 years and over increased by 16,100 (+2.0%). See Table 2.

The June 2019 results also show that:

  • The total number of sheep was 5,142,400, representing an increase of 33,000 (+0.6%) on June 2018. See Table 3.
  • The number of non-breeding sheep increased by 116,600 (+4.6%) and the number of breeding sheep decreased by 83,600 (-3.3%). See Table 3.
  • The area under potatoes increased by 300 (ha) to 8,600 ha. See Table 1.

Correction - 5 December 2019: The statistics on the area under crops in June 2019, published on 18 September 2019, have been revised on foot of corrected raw data. This means that the Headline Table, Figures 1 and 2, and Table 1 of the release are revised. The corresponding commentary text has also been revised. The total area under cereals in June 2019 has been revised upwards from 245,000 hectares to 266,700 hectares. The total area under potatoes has also been revised upwards from 7,100 hectares to 8,600 hectares. 

The revision is based on revised data received from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) system on 22 November 2019. The revised data from DAFM corrected discrepancies in the BPS data used in compiling the release issued by the CSO on 18 September 2019.

 

X-axis label201720182019
Winter wheat60.354.459.4
Spring wheat6.83.63.77
Winter Oats14.410.216.6
Spring Oats107.67.1
Winter Barley6557.982.6
Spring Barley115.2127.496.2
Potatoes9.28.28.6
Table 1 Area under Crops
DescriptionJune 2017June 2018June 2019   Change 2018 - 2019
' 000 hectares' 000 hectares%
Wheat - total67.058.063.25.29.0
   Winter wheat60.354.459.45.09.2
   Spring wheat6.83.63.80.26.1
      
Oats - total24.417.823.75.933.4
   Winter oats14.410.216.66.463.1
   Spring oats10.07.67.1-0.5-6.5
      
Barley - total180.2185.2178.8-6.4-3.5
   Winter barley65.057.982.624.842.8
   Spring barley115.2127.496.2-31.2-24.5
      
Other cereals0.80.61.00.461.1
      
Total cereals272.4261.6266.75.12.0
      
Potatoes9.28.28.60.34.2
Table 2 Number of Cattle
DescriptionJune 2017June 2018June 2019   Change 2018 - 2019
' 000 ' 000 %
Total cattle7,363.57,348.57,208.6-139.9-1.9
      
      Dairy cows11,432.71,480.91,504.823.91.6
      Other cows1,081.01,047.9999.7-48.2-4.6
      
      Bulls216.910.97.6-3.3-30.7
      
      Cattle male: 2 years and over431.7442.5437.2-5.3-1.2
      Cattle female: 2 years and over356.4369.3390.721.45.8
      
      Cattle male: 1-2 years902.3895.0850.2-44.8-5.0
      Cattle female: 1-2 years1,011.61,023.71,010.5-13.2-1.3
      
      Cattle male: under 1 year1,033.5998.1939.5-58.5-5.9
      Cattle female: under 1 year1,097.41,080.31,068.4-11.8-1.1
      
   Total cattle male2,384.52,346.52,234.5-112.0-4.8
   Total cattle female 4,979.05,002.04,974.1-27.9-0.6
1 Dairy cows are those kept principally to produce milk for human consumption.
2 Bulls used for breeding purposes only.
Table 3 Number of Sheep
DescriptionJune 2017June 2018June 2019   Change 2018 - 2019
' 000 ' 000 %
Total sheep5,197.15,109.35,142.433.00.6
      
   Breeding sheep2,593.52,565.52,481.9-83.6-3.3
      
      Ewes: 2 years and over2,033.02,021.71,971.2-50.6-2.5
      Ewes: under 2 years482.2467.8436.3-31.5-6.7
      
      Rams78.476.074.5-1.5-2.0
      
   Other sheep2,603.62,543.92,660.4116.64.6

Background Notes

Introduction 

This release presents provisional estimates of land utilisation and livestock numbers in June 2019 at State level. The estimates for sheep are based on returns from the 2019 June sample survey of agricultural holdings, conducted by the Central Statistics Office (CSO). The estimates for cattle and for crops are obtained from administrative data from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).

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

Results        

Crops  The results for crops are based on data obtained from the DAFM Basic Payment Scheme.

Cattle  The results for cattle are obtained from DAFM’s Animal Identification and Movement (AIM) system, formerly known as the Cattle Movement Monitoring System (CMMS). This system was introduced at the beginning of 2000 and involves electronically recording data on animal movements.

Sheep  The June 2019 results for sheep are based on the trends obtained by comparing the returns from the 2018 sample with the 2019 returns for the same 7,600 farms and applying these trends to the June 2018 figures.

As the figures in the text and tables 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. Percentage changes have been calculated on actual figures.

 

 

upArrowHide Background Notes