IRELAND

National Sheep and Goat Census

December 2009

National Sheep And Goats Census, December 2009 Council Regulation (EC) No. 21/2004 obliges all Member States to carry out a

census of sheep and goats, at least annually. This national census is the fifth such

census, the first being carried out in December 2005.

Sheep census forms for 2009 were sent to 36,367 sheep flock-keepers on this

Department’s database. For the first time farmers were also required to indicate total

numbers of breeding ewes in their flocks.

Returns were received from 35,712 a response rate of 98%. This particularly high

response rate may be attributable to the introduction of the Grassland Sheep

Scheme which required flock owners to have submitted 2008 and 2009 census

returns in order to qualify for the scheme. A total of 3,479 respondents had no

sheep in December 2009, with 1,464 of this number indicating that they do not

intend to return to sheep farming in the near future.

Goat census forms were sent to 418 registered goat keepers and returns were

received from 394, a response rate of 94%. A total of 65 respondents had no goats

in December 2009 with 36 of this number indicating that they do not intend to return

to goat keeping in the near future.

Sheep Census returns indicate that at December 2009 Ireland had just under 3.1

million sheep (3,074,797) in 32,232 flocks including almost 2.2 milliion

breeding ewes over 12 months of age. There was an average of 95 sheep

per flock compared to 97 sheep per flock in 2008. Similar to 2008 a total of

68% of flocks contain sheep numbers below the average flock size.

While total sheep numbers had been declining annually since the first census

was carried out in December 2005 the rate of decline was reducing and now

appears to have bottomed out. The December 2009 figure is less than 1%

below the December 2008 figure of 3,090,466.

Total Sheep, Dec 2005 - Dec 2009

4,00

6,74

4

3,60

0,71

5

3,26

9,87

6

3,09

0,46

6

3,07

4,79

7

0

1,000,000

2,000,000

3,000,000

4,000,000

5,000,000

Dec2005

Dec2006

Dec2007

Dec2008

Dec2009

As the overall sheep numbers in December 2009 are almost identical to the

December 2008 figure the decline in sheep numbers in 16 counties is offset

by increases in 10 counties. The county with the biggest percentage

decrease in numbers was Offaly (-9%) while Monaghan had the biggest

increase (+16%)

The overall number of sheep flocks in December 2009 (32,232) has increased

by approx 1% on the December 2008 figure (31,756) with only marginal

increases/decreases being shown in all counties.

17,164

17,731

25,360

33,377

42,275

44,372

59,330

61,807

69,831

66,464

78,937

92,304

97,776

103,905

115,019

117,140

141,142

149,816

166,565

211,448

268,752

313,505

347,571

366,811

20,033

46,362

December 2009

Total No. of Sheep by County

County Breeding Ewes over 12 Months

Old

Rams Other Sheep

Total Sheep

Carlow 72,343 2,140 29,422 103,905Cavan 31,157 1,289 11,926 44,372Clare 12,517 618 4,596 17,731Cork 121,645 3,900 41,020 166,565Donegal 256,394 8,655 101,762 366,811Dublin 15,151 543 4,339 20,033Galway 243,285 7,533 96,753 347,571Kerry 206,347 5,138 57,267 268,752Kildare 63,898 2,062 26,344 92,304Kilkenny 48,378 1,555 19,898 69,831Laois 27,878 941 13,456 42,275Leitrim 62,247 1,875 14,815 78,937Limerick 12,135 397 4,632 17,164Longford 18,845 735 5,780 25,360Louth 31,867 1,158 13,337 46,362Mayo 234,556 7,355 71,594 313,505Meath 85,463 2,890 26,666 115,019Monaghan 20,044 828 12,505 33,377Offaly 41,325 1,334 16,671 59,330Roscommon 105,538 3,184 41,094 149,816Sligo 74,616 2,537 20,623 97,776Tipperary 81,482 2,459 33,199 117,140Waterford 45,414 1,290 15,103 61,807Westmeath 49,214 1,718 15,532 66,464Wexford 86,502 2,792 51,848 141,142Wicklow 141,263 4,236 65,949 211,448

Total 2,189,504 69,162 816,131 3,074,797

December 2009

4,965

245

4,043

4,263

1,329

868

696

184

743

387

423

429

537

553

579

597

747

946

948

1,091

1,268

1,704

1,778

2,206

368

335

Total Number of Sheep Flocks and Avg Flock Size by County

County Number of

flocks Avg Flock

Size

Carlow 747 139 Cavan 696 64 Clare 537 33 Cork 1,778 94 Donegal 4,965 74 Dublin 184 109 Galway 4,043 86 Kerry 2,206 122 Kildare 597 155 Kilkenny 579 121 Laois 429 99 Leitrim 868 91 Limerick 245 70 Longford 387 66 Louth 335 138 Mayo 4,263 74 Meath 948 121 Monaghan 368 91 Offaly 553 107 Roscommon 1,704 88 Sligo 1,329 74 Tipperary 946 124 Waterford 423 146 Westmeath 743 89 Wexford 1,091 129 Wicklow 1,268 167

Total 32,232 95

Total Number of Sheep Flocks by Size of Flock

The distribution of the national flocks in terms of flock sizes has remained

virtually unchanged in percentage terms compared to December 2008 and

December 2007 e.g. all flocks of between 51-100 accounted for 24% of the

national flock, 101 – 150 (12%) etc.

Number of sheep in flock

Number of flocks % of total

1 – 50 14,976 46.5% 51 – 100 7,722 24.0%

101 – 150 3,863 12.0% 151 – 200 2,037 6.3% 201 – 300 1,959 6.1% 301 – 400 792 2.5% 401 – 500 379 1.2%

>500 504 1.6% Total Flocks 32,232

1 – 50

51 – 100

101 – 150

151 – 200

201 – 300

301 – 400

401 – 500

>500

1 – 50 51 – 100 101 – 150151 – 200 201 – 300 301 – 400401 – 500 >500

Goats

Census returns indicate that at December 2009 there were 8,442

domesticated goats in Ireland which represents a increase of 16% on the

2008 figure. There were a total of 329 herds and the average number of

goats per herd increased from 24 in December 2008 to 26.

As in 2008 60% of herds contain 5 goats or less compared to 61% in 2007

and 63% in 2006. The percentage of herds containing between 6 and 10 was

down by 1% to 16% and the percentage containing between 11 and 50 goats

was up by 1% to 15%. The number of herds that had over 50 goats increased

from 20 in 2007 to 30 in 2008 to 31 in 2009.

Total Number of Goats and Number of Goat Herds by County

County Number of goats Number of Herds

Carlow 0 0Cavan 1,085 11Clare 464 18Cork 721 48Donegal 101 17Dublin 273 5Galway 336 18Kerry 442 26Kildare 78 7Kilkenny 147 8Laois 147 7Leitrim 284 11Limerick 64 7Longford 452 10Louth 248 7Mayo 181 36Meath 1,244 9Monaghan 29 5Offaly 22 5Roscommon 87 18Sligo 81 8Tipperary 625 17Waterford 76 6Westmeath 950 7Wexford 61 8Wicklow 244 10

Total 8,442 329

Total number of goat herds by size of herd

Number of goats in herd

Number of herds % of total

1 – 5 196 60

6 – 10 52 16

11 – 50 50 15

51 – 100 9 3

101 - 200 8 2

201 – 300 10 3

>300 4 1

Total 329