The final results for June 2017 show that the area under cereals decreased by 8,700ha (-3.1%) to 272,400ha when compared to June 2016, according to the latest figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

This was mainly due to a decrease of 9,600ha (-12.9%) in the area under winter barley and a decrease of 800ha (-10.2%) in the area under spring wheat, according to the CSO.

Livestock increase

The results also show that the total number of cattle was 7,363,500, an increase of 142,300 (2%) on June 2016.

The number of cattle aged two years and over (excluding cows and bulls) increased by 72,600 (10.1%), cattle aged one-to-two years increased by 60,700 (3.3%) and dairy cows increased by 34,800 (2.5%), the office added.

A regional analysis of the livestock numbers shows that the largest number of cattle (1,464,300) was in the south-west region, the largest number of sheep (1,417,300) was in the west region and the largest number of pigs (430,300) was in the region bordering Northern Ireland.