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The area under cereals decreased by 16,800 hectares (ha) (-5.8%) to 272,000 ha in the 12 months to June 2023.
The area under Potatoes fell by 100 ha in June 2023 to 8,300 ha (-1.6%) in comparison with June 2022.
In June 2023, the number of Other Cows dropped to 872,100 (-4.5%) from 913,200 when compared with June 2022.
Cattle 2 years and over increased to 791,300 (+7.6%) from 735,200 over the 12 months since June 2022.
Ram numbers were up from 83,500 in June 2022 to 87,400 (+4.6%) in June 2023.
The number of Breeding Pigs rose by 8,400 (+6.1%) to 145,600 in June 2023 when compared with June 2022.
| X-axis label | Percentage Change |
|---|---|
| Total Cereals | -5.8 |
| Total Cattle | -0.7 |
| Total Sheep | 0.3 |
| Total Pigs | 1.6 |
Preliminary estimates for June 2023 show that the area under cereals decreased by 16,800 hectares (ha) (-5.8%) to 272,000 ha when compared with June 2022.
Winter Wheat, Winter Oats and Winter Barley were down by 9,200 ha (-15.3%), 5,000 ha (-33.2%) and 20,500 ha (-27.7%) respectively. The area under Spring Oats rose by 3,800 ha (+29.4%), Spring Barley also increased by 16,400 ha (+14.1%) while Spring Wheat decreased by 2,300 ha (-34%).
The area under potatoes fell by 100 ha (-1.6%) to 8,300 ha.
| X-axis label | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Wheat | 56.24745 | 60.4 | 51.2 |
| Spring Wheat | 6.07825 | 6.8 | 4.5 |
| Winter Oats | 13.90943 | 15.2 | 10.1 |
| Spring Oats | 14.46217 | 13 | 16.9 |
| Winter Barley | 67.52034 | 73.8 | 53.3 |
| Spring Barley | 116.40598 | 116.5 | 132.9 |
| Potatoes | 8.93327 | 8.5 | 8.3 |
The total cattle numbers were down by 54,700 (-0.7%) to 7,341,500. The number of Dairy Cows was up by 19,300 (+1.2%) while the number of Other Cows dropped by 41,000 (-4.5%). The total number of Cattle less than 2 years decreased by 87,200 (-2.1%). The number of Cattle 2 years and over increased by 56,100 (+7.6%).
| X-axis label | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dairy Cows | 1604.5 | 1627.3 | 1646.6 |
| Other Cows | 940.3 | 913.2 | 872.1 |
| Cattle under 1 | 2145.9 | 2134.4 | 2074.2 |
| Cattle 1-2 yrs | 1899.6 | 1937.7 | 1910.8 |
| Cattle 2 yrs+ | 718.1 | 735.2 | 791.3 |
The June 2023 results show that sheep numbers increased in the last 12 months by 15,900 (+0.3%) to 5,983,500. Breeding Sheep decreased by 86,700 (-2.8%) and Other Sheep (non-breeding sheep) increased by 102,600 (+3.5%). Ram numbers rose by 4.6% to 87,400.
| X-axis label | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total sheep | 5609.395 | 5967.594 | 5983.5 |
| Breeding sheep | 2900.378 | 3053.959 | 2967.3 |
| Ewes: 2 years and over | 2173.788 | 2320.072 | 2354.2 |
| Ewes: under 2 years | 641.623 | 650.345 | 525.7 |
| Rams | 84.967 | 83.542 | 87.4 |
| Other sheep | 2709.017 | 2913.635 | 3016.2 |
The total number of Pigs in Ireland in June 2023 increased by 1.6% to 1,661,300 when compared with June 2022.
Breeding Pig numbers were up by 8,400 (+6.1%) to 145,600. The number of Gilts in Pig and Gilts not yet served rose by 2,600 (+13.9%) and 3,000 (+19.1%) respectively. The number of Other Sows for breeding increased to 30,200 from 27,400 (+10.1%).
The number of Other Pigs (non-breeding pigs) were up by 18,100 (+1.2%) to 1,515,700. Pigs 80kg and over grew by 23,400 to 362,800 (+6.9%).
| X-axis label | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| <20kg | 459.4 | 409 | 413.5 |
| 20-50kg | 421.6 | 423.1 | 415.1 |
| 50-80kg | 343 | 326 | 324.3 |
| >80kg | 318.3 | 339.5 | 362.8 |
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Statistician's Comment
Commenting on the release, Sophie Emerson, Statistician in the Agriculture Surveys Section of the CSO, said:
"Preliminary estimates for June 2023 show that the area under cereals decreased by 16,800 hectares (ha) (-5.8%) to 272,000 ha when compared with June 2022. The area under Wheat, Oats and Barley decreased by 17.2%, 4.2% and 2.1% respectively. The area under potatoes fell by 1.6%.
The number of Dairy Cows increased by 1.2%, while Other Cows dropped by 4.5%. The total number of cattle less than 2 years was down by 2.1%, while cattle 2 years and over rose by 7.6%.
The number of Breeding Sheep was down by 2.8% while the number of Other Sheep was up by 3.5%. Ram numbers increased by 4.6% in June 2023 when compared with June 2022.
The total number of pigs in Ireland in June 2023 was 1,661,300, an increase of 1.6% when compared with June 2022. The number of Breeding Pigs rose by 8,400 (+6.1%) in June 2023 to 145,600 when compared with the same period last year. The figures also show an increase in the number of non-breeding pigs by 18,100 (+1.2%) to 1,515,700."