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Crops and Livestock Survey Final Results June 2022

Dairy cows increased by 1.4% in the 12 months to June 2022

Online ISSN: 1393-7278
CSO statistical publication, , 11am

Key Findings

Compared with June 2021:

  • The total number of cattle increased by 37,300 to 7,396,200 (+0.5%).

  • Sheep numbers rose by 358,200 (+6.4%) to 5,967,600. Breeding sheep increased by 153,600 (+5.3%) to 3,054,000 while Other sheep rose by 204,600  (+7.6%) to 2,913,600.

  • Pig numbers decreased by 59,500 (-3.5%) to 1,634,800. Breeding pigs fell by 14,700 (-9.7%) and Other pigs dropped by 44,800 (-2.9%).

  • The area under Total cereals increased by 12,300 hectares (ha) (+4.5%) to 288,700 ha.

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (29 March 2023) released the Crops and Livestock Survey Final Results June 2022. 

Commenting on the release, Donal Kelly, Senior Statistician in Agriculture Division, said: "The final results for June 2022 show that the total number of cattle in the country increased by 37,300 (+0.5%) to 7,396,200 when compared with June 2021. The total number of dairy cows grew by 22,800 (+1.4%) while the total number of other cows fell by 27,100 (-2.9%). 

A regional analysis of the livestock numbers shows that the largest number of cattle (1,483,100) was in the Mid-West region, the largest number of sheep (1,638,800) was in the West region and the largest number of pigs (386,400) was in the Border region. 

Providing further analysis of the cattle figures, Donal Kelly said: "The total number of cattle aged 2 years and over has risen by 17,000 (+2.4%) while the total number of cattle aged 1-2 years also rose by 38,100 (+2.0%) in the year since June 2021.

Regarding the three main cereals, the land areas under winter wheat, winter oats and winter barley have increased by 4,200 ha (+7.4%), 1,200 ha (+8.9%) and 6,200 ha (+9.3%) respectively. The areas under spring cereals have decreased compared with June 2021."

Area under Crops and Pasture

The final figures for June 2022 show that the area farmed increased by 10,500 hectares (ha) (+0.2%) to 4,347,900 ha when compared with June 2021. The area under Crops and Pasture decreased by 144,500 ha (-3.7%) to 3,745,500 ha.

X-axis labelPotatoesWinter wheatSpring wheatWinter oatsSpring oatsWinter barleySpring barley
% Change-57.411.98.9-9.99.30.1
Table 1 Area under crops and pasture

The total area under Crops and Pasture in June 2022 was 3,745,500 ha, with the highest numbers in the Southern region. The total area under cereals was 288,700 ha. The highest area of cereals was also observed in the Southern region.

Table 2 Area under Crops and Pasture in each Region, June 2022

Livestock

The total cattle numbers were up by 37,300 (+0.5%) to 7,396,200. The number of Dairy cows was up by 22,800 (+1.4%) while the number of Other cows dropped by 27,100 (-2.9%) when compared with June 2021.

The total sheep numbers increased by 358,200 (+6.4%) to 5,967,600, while Other sheep rose by 204,600 (+7.6%) to 2,913,600.

The total pig numbers decreased by 59,500 (-3.5%) to 1634,800 and similarly, Other pigs declined by 44,800 (-2.9%) to 1,497,600.

Figure 2 Number of Selected Livestock
Table 3 Number of Livestock

The total number of sheep in the State in June 2022 was 5,967,600. The highest numbers were observed in the Northern and Western region.

The total number of pigs was 1,634,800 with the highest numbers seen in the Southern region.

Figure 3 Total cattle and sheep in each region, June 2022
Table 4 Number of Sheep, Pigs and Other Livestock in each Region, June 2022

7,396,200
Total cattle in June 2022

The total number of cattle was 7,396,200 in June 2022, with the highest number (4,032,000) in the Southern region.

Map 1 Dairy cows by county, 2022 (thousand head)
Table 5 Number of Cattle in each Region and County, June 2022