Suckler cow numbers have dropped 131,325 head since 2012, with every county in Ireland seeing a drop in numbers.
On 31 December 2018, there were 938,857 suckler cows in Ireland, figures from the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) and the AIMS division of the Department of Agriculture show.
Suckler cow numbers have been gradually falling over the last number of years, with yearly figures showing declines.
In 2015 the number of suckler cows stood at just over one million head, this was back on 2012 numbers when there were almost 70,000 more suckler cows in the country when figures stood at 1,070,182 head.
The table below shows the number of suckler cows per county in 2018, 2015 and 2012.
In suckler strongholds in the west, numbers in Galway have dropped over 8,000 head in the last six years, numbers have fallen over 6,000 head in Mayo and in Roscommon in the same time period numbers are back over 5,000 head.
One stand-out feature in the figures is that suckler cow numbers have fallen in counties which are now dairy dominated. Tipperary suckler cow numbers have fallen by 13,716 head since 2012 and in Cork numbers are back 11,114 head.
14,000 suckler farms at risk
As the Irish Farmers Journal revealed on Thursday, over 14,000 suckler farms will be lost from Ireland’s beef industry in the next 10 years unless something is done, UCD professor Michael Wallace has warned.
He has calculated that Ireland’s suckler herd is worth at least €2.9bn to the economy and accounts for the equivalent of 52,000 full-time jobs.
Unless a strategy is put in place for the sector, he warned that 142,000 suckler cows will be lost in the next 10 years from the beef industry.
To put that figure in perspective, that is the equivalent of counties Galway and Cavan losing all suckler cow numbers or counties Roscommon, Mayo and Kildare losing their numbers.
Read more
14,000 suckler farms at risk
National cattle herd returning to record levels
Top tips: picking replacement heifers this spring
Suckler cow numbers have dropped 131,325 head since 2012, with every county in Ireland seeing a drop in numbers.
On 31 December 2018, there were 938,857 suckler cows in Ireland, figures from the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) and the AIMS division of the Department of Agriculture show.
Suckler cow numbers have been gradually falling over the last number of years, with yearly figures showing declines.
In 2015 the number of suckler cows stood at just over one million head, this was back on 2012 numbers when there were almost 70,000 more suckler cows in the country when figures stood at 1,070,182 head.
The table below shows the number of suckler cows per county in 2018, 2015 and 2012.
In suckler strongholds in the west, numbers in Galway have dropped over 8,000 head in the last six years, numbers have fallen over 6,000 head in Mayo and in Roscommon in the same time period numbers are back over 5,000 head.
One stand-out feature in the figures is that suckler cow numbers have fallen in counties which are now dairy dominated. Tipperary suckler cow numbers have fallen by 13,716 head since 2012 and in Cork numbers are back 11,114 head.
14,000 suckler farms at risk
As the Irish Farmers Journal revealed on Thursday, over 14,000 suckler farms will be lost from Ireland’s beef industry in the next 10 years unless something is done, UCD professor Michael Wallace has warned.
He has calculated that Ireland’s suckler herd is worth at least €2.9bn to the economy and accounts for the equivalent of 52,000 full-time jobs.
Unless a strategy is put in place for the sector, he warned that 142,000 suckler cows will be lost in the next 10 years from the beef industry.
To put that figure in perspective, that is the equivalent of counties Galway and Cavan losing all suckler cow numbers or counties Roscommon, Mayo and Kildare losing their numbers.
Read more
14,000 suckler farms at risk
National cattle herd returning to record levels
Top tips: picking replacement heifers this spring
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