The final results for June 2017 show that the area under cereals decreased by 8,700 hectares (ha) (-3.1%) to 272,400 ha when compared to June 2016. This was mainly due to a decrease of 9,600 ha (-12.9%) in the area under winter barley and a decrease of 800 ha (-10.2%) in the area under spring wheat. See Table 1.

The results also show that the total number of cattle was 7,363,500, an increase of 142,300 (+2.0%) on June 2016. The number of cattle 2 years and over (excluding cows and bulls) increased by 72,600 (+10.1%), cattle 1-2 years increased by 60,700 (+3.3%) and dairy cows increased by 34,800 (+2.5%). See Table 2.

A comparison with the June 2016 results show that:

• Sheep numbers increased by  (+0.3%) to 5,197,100. Breeding sheep were up 10,800 (+0.4%) and other sheep (non-breeding) were up 7,200 (+0.3%). See Table 2.

• Pig numbers decreased by 37,500 (-2.3%) to 1,556,900. Breeding pigs were down 3.5% and non-breeding pigs down by 2.2%. See Table 2.

• The area under potatoes increased by 1.5% to 9,200 ha. See Table 1.

A regional analysis of the livestock numbers shows that the largest number of cattle (1,464,300) was in the South-West region, the largest number of sheep (1,417,300) was in the West region and the largest number of pigs (430,300) was in the Border region. See Tables 4 and 5.