Livestock husbandry, 1 January 2006, preliminary figures

The decline in the number of livestock farmers from 2005 to 2006 comprises all kinds of domestic animals. Holdings with laying hens went down by 11 per cent from the previous year. The number of holdings with pigs dropped by 10 per cent, while the decline in number of holdings with cattle and sheep was 5 per cent.

More pigs, broilers and beef cows

Forty-two million chickens were slaughtered in 2006, two million more than the year before. The number of pigs for breeding increased by 2 700 to 101 700 on 1 January 2006. In the beginning of 2006 a total of 54 100 beef cows were registered, an increase of 4000 from 2005. Number of dairy cows dropped by 6 200 to 266 100 in 2006, and the number of dairy goats by 2 100 to 44 000.

Larger herds

The average holding with dairy cows had 17.6 dairy cows in 2006, being 5 more than in 1995. The number of dairy cows has dropped by 18 per cent since 1995, while the number of holdings keeping dairy cows has dropped by 40 per cent.

The average holding with breeding sows had 20 breeding sows in 1995, against 51 in 2006. The number of breeding sows increased with 10 400 to 99 700 in this period, while the number of holdings with breeding sows was more than halved, from 4500 in 1995 to 2 000 in 2006.

Tables:

• Table 1 Holdings keeping domestic animals of various kinds as per 1 January, by county.
• Table 2 Cattle and sheep. No of heads as per 1 January, by county.
• Table 3 Various domestic animals. No of heads as per 1 January, by county
• Table 4 Holdings with various kinds of domestic animals, by size of herd. As per 1 January