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The number of suckler cows in Ireland has dipped below one million, with the latest figures showing there are now 951,397 suckler cows in the country.
Western counties remain a stronghold for Ireland’s beef herd, despite numbers contracting since the end of 2017, when CSO figures showed there were 1,018,300 suckler cows.
Drop of 7%
There has been a 7% (66,903 head) drop in the intervening 12 months.
Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed revealed the numbers as of the end of 2018 derived from the Department's Animal Movement and Identification (AIM) database in response to a parliamentary question from Fianna Fáil's Charlie McConalogue.
Suckler farms
Just nine counties account for over half of all the sucklers in the country – Galway, Mayo, Cork, Clare, Donegal, Kerry, Roscommon, Cavan and Tipperary.
The Minister also revealed there are over 66,000 farms that have at least one suckler cow. The same nine counties as above make up just under two thirds of all suckler farms.
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