Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 February 2021
344. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the current strength of the national beef herd; the degree to which the numbers have fluctuated in the past ten years to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7755/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe CSO's Livestock Survey (June) includes the information below for the years 2010-2019:
|
(000 head) |
Total cattle |
Dairy cows |
Other cows |
|
2010 |
6,607 |
1,071 |
1,158 |
|
2011 |
6,493 |
1,117 |
1,123 |
|
2012 |
6,754 |
1,141 |
1,149 |
|
2013 |
6,903 |
1,163 |
1,150 |
|
2014 |
6,926 |
1,226 |
1,129 |
|
2015 |
6,964 |
1,296 |
1,076 |
|
2016 |
7,221 |
1,398 |
1,104 |
|
2017 |
7,364 |
1,433 |
1,081 |
|
2018 |
7,349 |
1,481 |
1,048 |
|
2019 |
7,209 |
1,505 |
1,000 |
Provisional figures for 2020 show that the total cattle numbers increased by 105,800 (+1.5%) to 7,314,400. The number of other cows dropped by 16,500 (-1.6%), while the number of dairy cows was up by 62,900 (+4.2%). Final 2020 data will be published by the CSO later this year.
More detailed data from the CSO's June and December Livestock Surveys each year is available at the following links:
https://www.cso.ie/en/statistics/agriculture/cropsandlivestockjunefinalresults
https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/clsjp/cropsandlivestocksurveyjuneprovisional2020/
