| Total Cereals | Cattle | Sheep | |
| '000 hectares | |||
| '000 | '000 | ||
| June 2013 | 307.8 | 6,902.6 | 5,110.6 |
| June 2014 | 304.0 | 6,926.1 | 4,989.2 |
| % change | -1.2 | +0.3 | -2.4 |
Preliminary estimates for June 2014 show that total sheep numbers have decreased by 121,300 (-2.4%) to 4,989,200. This was due to reductions of 84,400 (-15.6%) in ewes under 2 years, 62,800 (-2.5%) in other sheep (non-breeding) and 7,100 (-8.8%) in rams. See Table 3.
The area under cereals decreased by 3,800 hectares (-1.2%) to 304,000 ha. The area under spring cereals (wheat, oats and barley) decreased by 50,800 ha (-23.1%) including a drop of 12,900 ha (-60.7%) in spring oats. The area under winter cereals showed an increase of 47,300 ha (+54.5%) in the same period, with an increase of 4,700 ha (+87.9%) in winter oats. See Table 1.
The June 2014 results also show that:
| Table 1 Area under Crops | |||||
| Description | June 2012 | June 2013 | June 2014 | Change 2013 - 2014 | |
| ' 000 hectares | ' 000 hectares | % | |||
| Wheat - total | 98.0 | 60.6 | 71.0 | 10.4 | 17.2 |
| Winter wheat | 84.6 | 45.4 | 64.5 | 19.1 | 42.1 |
| Spring wheat | 13.5 | 15.2 | 6.6 | -8.7 | -56.9 |
| Oats - total | 23.7 | 26.7 | 18.4 | -8.2 | -30.8 |
| Winter oats | 9.9 | 5.4 | 10.1 | 4.7 | 87.9 |
| Spring oats | 13.8 | 21.3 | 8.4 | -12.9 | -60.7 |
| Barley - total | 192.8 | 219.4 | 213.7 | -5.7 | -2.6 |
| Winter barley | 41.0 | 36.0 | 59.4 | 23.4 | 65.2 |
| Spring barley | 151.8 | 183.5 | 154.3 | -29.2 | -15.9 |
| Other cereals | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.8 | -0.3 | -29.5 |
| Total cereals | 315.4 | 307.8 | 304.0 | -3.8 | -1.2 |
| Potatoes | 9.0 | 10.7 | 9.6 | -1.2 | -10.8 |
| Table 2 Number of Cattle | |||||
| Description | June 2012 | June 2013 | June 2014 | Change 2013 - 2014 | |
| ' 000 | ' 000 | % | |||
| Total cattle | 6,754.1 | 6,902.6 | 6,926.1 | 23.5 | 0.3 |
| Dairy cows1 | 1,140.8 | 1,163.2 | 1,226.4 | 63.2 | 5.4 |
| Other cows | 1,148.6 | 1,150.3 | 1,129.0 | -21.2 | -1.8 |
| Bulls2 | 36.1 | 41.4 | 40.8 | -0.7 | -1.6 |
| Cattle male: 2 years and over | 360.6 | 388.2 | 455.9 | 67.7 | 17.4 |
| Cattle female: 2 years and over | 372.0 | 380.1 | 428.4 | 48.3 | 12.7 |
| Cattle male: 1-2 years | 770.2 | 872.7 | 820.5 | -52.2 | -6.0 |
| Cattle female: 1-2 years | 889.8 | 938.3 | 946.7 | 8.4 | 0.9 |
| Cattle male: under 1 year | 1,023.2 | 959.2 | 901.6 | -57.6 | -6.0 |
| Cattle female: under 1 year | 1,012.8 | 1,009.3 | 976.8 | -32.5 | -3.2 |
| Total cattle male | 2,190.1 | 2,261.5 | 2,218.8 | -42.7 | -1.9 |
| Total cattle female | 4,564.1 | 4,641.1 | 4,707.3 | 66.2 | 1.4 |
| 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 | |||||
| Description | June 2012 | June 2013 | June 2014 | Change 2013 - 2014 | |
| ' 000 | ' 000 | % | |||
| Total sheep | 5,170.0 | 5,110.6 | 4,989.2 | -121.3 | -2.4 |
| Breeding sheep | 2,667.0 | 2,648.6 | 2,590.0 | -58.6 | -2.2 |
| Ewes: 2 years and over | 2,027.9 | 2,028.7 | 2,061.6 | 32.9 | 1.6 |
| Ewes: under 2 years | 561.4 | 539.5 | 455.1 | -84.4 | -15.6 |
| Rams | 77.7 | 80.4 | 73.3 | -7.1 | -8.8 |
| Other sheep | 2,503.0 | 2,462.0 | 2,399.2 | -62.8 | -2.5 |
Introduction
This release presents provisional estimates of land utilisation and livestock numbers in June 2014 at State level. The estimates for sheep are based on returns from the 2014 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 Single 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 2014 results for sheep are based on the trends obtained by comparing the returns from the 2014 sample with the 2013 returns for the same 7,700 farms and applying these trends to the June 2013 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.
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