This release presents estimates of livestock numbers in June 2026 at State level. The estimates for sheep are based on returns from the June Agriculture Survey 2026, conducted by the Central Statistics Office (CSO). The estimates for cattle are obtained from administrative data from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF). The pig estimates are based on returns from the June 2026 Pig Survey which collects data on pig numbers held by specialised producers.
Specialised pig farms, totalling 339, were included in the survey for June 2026 with a response rate of 85%.
The results for cattle are obtained from DAFM’s Animal Identification and Movement (AIM) system and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF). The data was extracted on 01 June 2026.
The June 2026 results for sheep are compiled by comparing the returns from the DAFM's 2025 Sheep Census to the returns from the CSO's June Agriculture Survey June 2026. Trends are compared between the farms that returned both the DAFM Sheep Census and the June Agriculture Survey June 2026. These trends are applied to the Breeding Sheep (Ewes and Rams) to calculate the final figures. The Breeding rate is calculated based on the trends by comparing the matched sample from June of this year with the June of the previous year and applying that to the Breeding Ewes estimates to estimate the number of Other Sheep.
In cases where a pig farm did not make a June 2026 return, an estimate was created by taking that farm's 2025 return and applying the trend observed between the 2025 and 2026 collected data for each category of pigs.
As 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 totals shown. Percentage changes have been calculated on actual figures.
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