The national herd has reduced by over 550,000 head in the past 20 years, latest figures from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) have revealed.
According to the DAFM’s Animal Identification and Movement System (AIMS) report, on December 31, 2002, there were 7,074,033 cattle in Ireland. As of December 31, 2022, 20 years later, there were 6,504,599 cattle in Ireland.
The DAFM figures indicate the number of cattle in Ireland has decreased by 569,434 head of cattle since 2002.
According to the 2022 data, the average herd size in Ireland is 66.2 cattle. The county with the largest average herd size is Waterford, with an average of 127.5 cattle/herd.
This is followed by Co. Kilkenny with an average herd size of 126.1 cattle. Co. Leitrim has the smallest average herd size at 25.1 cattle, followed by Co. Sligo with an average herd size of 33 cattle.
As of December 31, 2022, there were a total of 98,217 cattle herds in Ireland. 38,353 herds have fewer than 25 cattle; 21,805 herds have between 25 and 49 cattle; and 11,839 herds have between 50 and 74 cattle.
7,116 herds have between 75 and 99 cattle, while 8,410 of herds have between 100 and 149 cattle and 11,144 of these herds have 150 or more cattle.
Make up of the national herd
Of the 6.5 million cattle in Ireland, 2.68 million of these are Friesian; 1.03 million are Limousin; 774,371 are Charolais; 714,861 are Angus; and 511,981 are Hereford.
Friesian cattle account for 41% of the national herd followed by Limousin which accounts for just under 16% of the herd.
65% of the calves born in 2022 were born to dairy dams. This means that some 1,587,438 calves were born to dairy dams, while 853,456 calves were born to beef dams.
For calves born to beef dams this is a decrease of 2.5% compared to 2021 and a 2% increase for the calves born to dairy dams.
Overall calf births increased by 0.38% from 2021 to 2022, with 2,431,683 born in 2021 and 2,440,894 born in 2022.