| Livestock Numbers | |||
| Cattle | Pigs | Sheep | |
| '000 | |||
| 2017 | 6,673.6 | 1,616.4 | 3,981.8 |
| 2018 | 6,593.5 | 1,572.2 | 3,743.5 |
| % change | -1.2 | -2.7 | -6.0 |
The results of the December 2018 Livestock Survey shows that the provisional estimate for the total number of sheep was 3,743,500 a decrease of 238,300 (-6.0%) on December 2017. The number of non-breeding sheep decreased by 131,900 (-11.2%) and breeding sheep decreased by 106,400 (-3.8%). See Table 3.
Further comparisons with the December 2017 results indicate that:
| Table 1 Number of Cattle | |||||
| Description | December 2016 | December 2017 | December 2018 | Change 2017 - 2018 | |
| ' 000 | ' 000 | % | |||
| Total cattle | 6,613.4 | 6,673.6 | 6,593.5 | -80.1 | -1.2 |
| Dairy cows 1 | 1,295.2 | 1,343.3 | 1,369.1 | 25.8 | 1.9 |
| Other cows | 1,042.0 | 1,018.3 | 982.3 | -36.0 | -3.5 |
| Bulls 2 | 19.5 | 12.8 | 8.6 | -4.3 | -33.2 |
| Cattle male: 2 years and over | 162.7 | 172.6 | 188.7 | 16.1 | 9.3 |
| Cattle female: 2 years and over | 239.3 | 247.9 | 255.2 | 7.4 | 3.0 |
| Cattle male: 1-2 years | 824.5 | 823.2 | 813.6 | -9.6 | -1.2 |
| Cattle female: 1-2 years | 953.6 | 969.0 | 976.1 | 7.1 | 0.7 |
| Cattle male: under 1 year | 1,011.3 | 1,008.6 | 948.5 | -60.1 | -6.0 |
| Cattle female: under 1 year | 1,065.3 | 1,077.9 | 1,051.4 | -26.5 | -2.5 |
| Total cattle male | 2,018.0 | 2,017.2 | 1,959.4 | -57.8 | -2.9 |
| Total cattle female | 4,595.5 | 4,656.4 | 4,634.1 | -22.3 | -0.5 |
| 1 Dairy cows are those kept principally to produce milk for human consumption. | |||||
| 2 Bulls used for breeding purposes only. | |||||
| Table 2 Number of Pigs | |||||
| Description | December 2016 | December 2017 | December 2018 | Change 2017 - 2018 | |
| ' 000 | ' 000 | % | |||
| Total pigs | 1,527.8 | 1,616.4 | 1,572.2 | -44.2 | -2.7 |
| Breeding pigs | 146.6 | 150.2 | 143.0 | -7.2 | -4.8 |
| Gilts in pig | 18.8 | 20.6 | 19.1 | -1.5 | -7.1 |
| Sows in pig | 78.9 | 84.7 | 78.0 | -6.7 | -7.9 |
| Other Sows for breeding | 32.0 | 28.9 | 29.3 | 0.4 | 1.3 |
| Gilts not yet served 1 | 15.7 | 14.8 | 15.3 | 0.5 | 3.6 |
| Boars | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 0.4 |
| Other pigs | 1,381.2 | 1,466.2 | 1,429.2 | -37.0 | -2.5 |
| Pigs 80kg and over | 259.6 | 276.5 | 259.1 | -17.4 | -6.3 |
| Pigs 50kg and under 80kg | 285.5 | 322.6 | 315.9 | -6.7 | -2.1 |
| Pigs 20kg and under 50kg | 409.9 | 417.2 | 417.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Less than 20kg | 426.2 | 449.9 | 436.9 | -13.0 | -2.9 |
| 1 Gilts of at least 50kg liveweight intended for breeding but not yet served. | |||||
| Table 3 Number of Sheep | ||||
| Description | December 20171 | December 20182 | Change 2017 - 2018 | |
| ' 000 | ' 000 | % | ||
| Total sheep | 3,981.8 | 3,743.5 | -238.3 | -6.0 |
| Breeding sheep | 2,809.0 | 2,702.6 | -106.4 | -3.8 |
| Ewes: 2 years and over | 1,995.1 | 1,967.9 | -27.2 | -1.4 |
| Ewes: under 2 years | 728.2 | 654.5 | -73.7 | -10.1 |
| Rams | 85.7 | 80.2 | -5.5 | -6.5 |
| Other sheep | 1,172.8 | 1,040.9 | -131.9 | -11.2 |
| 1 New Series from 2017 see Background Notes. | ||||
| 2 Provisional. | ||||
This release presents estimates for livestock numbers (cattle, sheep and pigs) in December 2018 at State level. The estimates for cattle and sheep are obtained from administrative data from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM). The estimates for pigs are based on returns from the CSO December Pig Survey.
Cattle: The results for cattle are obtained from DAFM Animal Identification and Movement (AIM) system. This system was introduced at the beginning of 2000 and involves electronically recording data on animal movements.
Pigs: A specialist pig survey was conducted by the CSO due to the intensive nature of this activity.
Sheep: The estimates for sheep are obtained from DAFM National Sheep & Goat Census undertaken on 31st December 2018. The 2018 results from the census are provisional. Final figures will be published on our StatBank by the end of May, 2019. Click here for a link to StatBank Table AAA06 Farm Animals in December by Type of Animal showing livestock numbers including sheep. The December 2017 estimates represents a break in the data series previously published.
The DAFM National Sheep and Goat Census is carried out under EU Regulation 21/2004 which obliges member states to carry out a census of sheep and goats annually. The first census took place in 2005.
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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Show Table 1 Number of Cattle
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