We all know that dairy cow numbers have increased across the country over the last number of years, but many of us don’t know exactly how many dairy cows are in the country or even in our own county.
However, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) recently revealed exact cow numbers for June 2018.
The figures for June 2018 show that dairy cow numbers reached a massive 1,480,900 last year – an increase of 3.4% from the previous year.
This was a total increase of 48,200 dairy cows from 2017 and a huge increase of 83,000 cows or 6% from 2016.
Looking at total cattle, the numbers hit 7,348,500 last year, which was a decrease of 0.2% from the previous year. Although, between 2016 and 2017, total cattle numbers increased by a total of 142,300 (2%).
County by county
Co. Cork still remains the most popular county for dairy at 378,200 cows, making up 25% of the total amount of dairy cows in the country. With regard to total cattle, Co. Cork has 1,125,000 making up 15% of the total cattle in the country.
The second highest county for dairy cows is Co. Tipperary at 173,200 – making up 12% of the total amount.
Following on from this is Co. Limerick at 118,900 cows – an 8% contribution to the total dairy population.
Next in line is Co. Kerry at 100,600 dairy cows – making up almost 7% of the total number.
The least popular counties for dairy are Co. Leitrim at 2,000 (0.14%) and Co. Dublin at 2,900 (0.2%) cows respectively.