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As of June 2018, the number of beef cows in Northern Ireland fell 4% to 255,900 head, the final figures of the June agricultural census by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) show.
Dairy cow numbers also took a hit this year, with numbers down 2% to 310,700 head. DAERA has sad that this reduction in numbers is reflective of increased culling during the prolonged winter of 2017/2018 when fodder was in short supply.
Combined, the figures show that total cattle numbers have fallen by 2% from June 2017 to 1.63m head.
Sheep
Breeding ewe numbers have also fallen in Northern Ireland, with the census figures showing there was a 2% decrease in the number of breeding ewes compared with 2017 with numbers falling to 956,500 head.
Until this decrease, ewe numbers had been increasing over the previous three years. Lamb numbers are down 3% compared with last year, which DAERA said reflects the decrease in ewe numbers and poor conditions at lambing.
Overall, sheep numbers in Northern Ireland stand at 2m which is a 2% decrease from June 2017.
Pig numbers up
Compared to breeding ewe numbers, breeding sow numbers in Northern Ireland have increased. In comparison to 2017, the total female breeding herd increased by 4% to 49,600 head, which is the seventh consecutive yearly increase in the breeding herd from 2011.
Overall, there has been a slight reduction in Northern Ireland total pig numbers of 2% mainly as a result of the lower number of fattening pigs.
Cereal area down
The area of cereals grown fell by 8% to 29,700ha with winter wheat, winter barley and oats all down, mainly as a result of poor planting conditions in autumn 2017.
From June 2017 the area of wheat grown fell by 22% to 6,800ha, the lowest it has been since 2001.
After decreasing for the previous four years, the area of spring barley grown in June 2018 showed an increase of 6%, which DAERA has said could be as a consequence to the poor opportunities to plant winter crops.
Spring barley is the most popular cereal crop grown with 14,900ha planted across Northern Ireland.
Grass for silage up 18%
The area in other field crops is 4% higher than last year, which is due to increases in the areas planted under arable crop silage and forage maize.
The area of arable crop silage increased by 18% to 4,300ha which is the largest area recorded for this crop while the area of forage maize increased by 17% to 1,600ha.
For forage maize, this is the first notable increase in the area grown in 10 years, following a long downward trend that began in 2008 when planting reached a peak of 3,500ha.
The area of potatoes fell by 11% to 3,600ha, returning to an area just above the lowest amount recorded for potatoes in 2015.
Poultry
The number of laying birds recorded for 1 June 2018 increased by 9% to 4.3m birds while the number of growing pullets fell by 7% to 1.1m birds, DAERA figures show.
The number of birds for breeding remained relatively unchanged from June 2017. Broiler poultry numbers increased by 5% to 17.7m birds at the 1 June. Overall, there was a 4% increase in total poultry numbers to over 26m birds on farm at June 2018.
There has been little change in the farming workforce on 2017 with a 1% increase to 49,200 workers. There was a 1% increase in both the number of full-time and part-time farmers and business partners.
Overall the number of farmers and business partners increased by 1% to 30,700. The number of other farm workers also increased by 1% from 2017 levels. The census figures show that full-time paid workers and part-time paid workers were the only categories to show a decrease in numbers in 2018.
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