Food Industry Development

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 December 2012

Tuesday, 18 December 2012

Questions (510)

Bernard Durkan

Question:

510. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the extent to which the pig meat, beef, lamb dairy and poultry sectors have grown in each of the past eight years to date, the degree to which the number of producers has fluctuated over the same period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56258/12]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Sectoral performance over any given time horizon is subject to a multitude of factors. These include supply and demand dynamics, exchange rate fluctuations, producer margins, variations in input costs, the macroeconomic climate generally, trading conditions in individual commodities and market opportunities arising from international agreements. In the case of the dairy sector, production is, of course, constrained by quotas.

The relative size, importance and contribution of the various livestock sectors to the domestic economy can best be understood by reference to data on production volume taken in conjunction with export volume and value. Data on these variables for the relevant period is presented in tabular format hereunder. Full year data for 2012 is not yet available.

Statistics in respect of producer numbers are compiled by the CSO according to standardised EU definitions in agricultural censuses which are held at decennial intervals. Table 5 below contains relevant data extracted from the two most recently published Census of Agriculture reports. Additional Department data on the number of active milk producers in each year of the period 2004 to 2011 is also provided in Table 6.

Table 1

Dairy Sector: Usable Dairy Production (’000 tonnes)

	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Butter	145	150	144	146	129	126	138	149
Cheese	118	119	137	140	175	163	172	180
Cream	20	22	22	22	22	21	21	21
Milk Powders	98	95	108	117	88	100	94	105
Drinking Milk & Buttermilk	588	575	579	582	572	543	541	544

Source: CSO Database – Dairy Products Supply Balance

Table 2

Meat Sector: Gross Indigenous Production (’000 tonnes (carcass equivalent)

	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Beef	578	565	597	600	552	542	596	571
Pigment	236	238	240	236	240	242	269	288
Poultry	126	127	121	113	117	112	124	128
Sheepmeat	67	70	68	63	55	51	42	40

Source: CSO Meat Supply Balance – various years .

Table 3

Export Volume for Dairy & Meat Sectors (’000 tonnes)

	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Dairy*	670	707	770	835	789	797	801	889
Beef	504	490	520	528	489	467	519	509
Pigmeat	107	119	116	124	132	126	150	181
Poultry	75	77	75	75	77	81	93	108
Sheepmeat	53	59	57	55	48	45	40	46

Source: * CSO External Trade data (Intrastat survey); otherwise Meat Supply Balance - various years.

Table 4

Export Values for Dairy & Meat Sectors (€m)

	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011†
Dairy*	1,629	1,779	1,950	2,278	2,324	1,876	2,231	2,653
Beef	1,400	1,340	1,530	1,570	1,690	1,397	1,573	1,860
Pigmeat	265	238	250	212	341	289	336	396
Poultry**	-	-	-	-	-	183	203	210
Sheepmeat	165	189	180	174	166	164	163	191

Source:* CSO External Trade (Intrastat) data; otherwise Bord Bia Meat Review & Outlook.

** No Bord Bia data available before 2009. †Revised Bord Bia figures for beef, pigmeat & sheepmeat.

Table 5

Number of farms classified by type of farm

	2000	2010
Specialist Tillage	4,736	4,795
Specialist Dairying	26,292	15,654
Specialist Beef Production	72,141	77,738
Specialist Sheep	12,233	13,555
Mixed Grazing Livestock	20,729	14,697
Mixed Crops & Livestock	3,644	2,443
Mixed Field Crops	N/A	9,635
Other	1,752	1,343
Total	141,527	139,860

Source: CSO

For analytical purposes, farms are classified in Census of Agriculture results as one of eight farm types. These types represent the primary areas of specialisation in Irish farming. They are derived from groupings applied to a detailed EU farm typology classification system and are based on the relative economic importance of the various lines of agricultural activity carried out on each farm.

Table 6

Active Milk Producers

2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
23,767	22,386	22,042	20,190	19,681	18,930	18,295	18,297

Source: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine