The final results of the June 2012 Agricultural Census have been released by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. The statistics provide estimates of crop areas, numbers of livestock and of farmers and workers on active farm businesses on the census date of 1 June 2012.
The main changes between June 2011 and June 2012 are:
Cereals: The total area of winter crops planted in autumn 2011 for harvest in 2012 was 16,600 ha – a 19% fall on the previous year. This was largely a consequence of poor weather which hampered sowing. An 18% increase in the area of spring barley to 20,200 ha filled most of the gap but overall the cereal area was down 800ha – a 2% reduction compared to 2011.
Other crops: At 4,200 ha, the area of potatoes grown was 14% lower in 2012 compared to 2011. Difficult harvesting conditions in the autumn of 2011 and poor returns will have contributed to this decline in plantings. The area of forage maize was 21% lower in June 2012 compared with a year earlier at 1,900 ha and has decreased by 45% since 2008.
Cattle: Total cattle numbers were up 2% in 2012, compared with the previous year, at 1.625million head. The number of dairy cows increased by 1% at 285,400 head while the number of beef cows increased by 4% to 279,200. This is the third year in which beef cow numbers have increased and the herd is now 9% bigger than in 2009 when numbers had fallen to 257,000. Improving beef prices has encouraged the increase in numbers, however the herd remains around 20% below the high of 345,000 reached in 1998.
Sheep: The number of breeding ewes is 5% higher than last year. Breeding ewe numbers rose rapidly in the 1990’s peaking in 1998 at 1.450 million. After this they fell back by 40% to a low of 876,000 in 2010. The current flock size of 938,000 is the highest recorded since 2007. Good lamb prices in 2011 led to an increase in the number of lambs retained for breeding in the autumn of 2011.
Pigs: There was little year-on-year change in the size of the pig breeding herd which stood at 38,300 in June 2012.
Poultry: Overall, there were 19.2million birds reported on farms in June 2012. This was down by 2% down the previous June with most of the fall in broiler production. The sector is highly vertically integrated and the number of bird coming forward is tailored to meet market demands.
Farmers and workers: There was no change in farmer and spouse numbers but a 6% increase in other workers at June 2012. The overall headcount (full-time, part-time and casual) workforce was 1% higher than in the previous year. Most of the increase was in part-time and casual labour and likely reflects difficulties in farm family members securing off-farm work rather than an increased demand for farm labour.
Tables giving more details of the June Agricultural Census results are available here.
Source: Northern Ireland Executive – NI Final Results of the June 2012 Agricultural Census
