Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 October 2017
415. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of beef suckler cows and dairy cows, respectively, based on latest data, in each of the years from 2010 to 2016 and to date in 2017, in tabular form. [43558/17]
View answerThe Irish beef and dairy herds make an enormous contribution to the value of Ireland’s agri-food industry. Since 2010, the value of Irish beef exports has increased from €1.57 billion to €2.38 billion, the value of dairy exports has increased from €2.27 billion to €3.82 billion. The growth in the value of exports has been realised despite the challenges the sectors have encountered, the most recent of which is of course the uncertainty arising from Brexit.
The following table details the dairy and suckler herd numbers as extracted from the June Crops and Livestock survey from the Central Statistics Office.
|
Year |
Dairy |
Suckler |
|
2010 |
1,071,000 |
1,158,000 |
|
2011 |
1,117,000 |
1,123,000 |
|
2012 |
1,141,000 |
1,147,000 |
|
2013 |
1,163,000 |
1,150,000 |
|
2014 |
1,226,000 |
1,129,000 |
|
2015 |
1,296,000 |
1,076,000 |
|
2016 |
1,398,000 |
1,104,000 |
|
2017 |
1,433,000 |
1,081,000 |
