Swing to part-time farms
The drop in both the number of livestock herds and herd size has been attributed to a massive swing towards part-time farming in recent years, as farm incomes came under pressure and off farm employment opportunities increased.
The CMMS data shows that 1,618 livestock farmers opted out in 2004, and the number of livestock herds with more than 100 animals dropped to 16%.
These 19,000 herds are mostly on dairy farms.
Figures for the 121,921 livestock herds in the country also showed that more than two in every five (42%) had less than 25 cattle, and less than one-in-three had more than 50 cattle.
There were 14,600 herds of 50 to 75 cattle in 2004, and a further 9,700 had 75 to 100 head.
There have also been some changes in farmer preferences in livestock breeding, with a noticeable swing towards more traditional beef breeds. The breeding of calves born in 2004 recorded a big swing towards Aberdeen Angus, increasing by more than 11%. Limousin increased by 4.6% and Herefords by 2.6%, with Charolais growing by 1.6%. The largest decline was for Belgian Blue, dropping more than 11%, while Simmental dropped by over 3% and Friesians were down by 2%.
The CMMS figures show that the Friesian breed dominated among calves exported under six weeks, accounting for 64%, with Belgian Blue the second largest at 15%, followed by Angus at 8%.
