Exodus from Irish cattle farming stepped up
Official figures show the rate of exit has been accelerating, with the exodus in 2005 almost double that for 2004 — the first signs of the much anticipated impact of the ending of the per head livestock premia, and the change to the Single Payment.
The information that there were 3,600 fewer cattle herds in the country at December 31, compared to a year earlier, comes in the new Cattle Movement Monitoring System (CMMS) figures.
In 2004, the CMMS revealed a decline of 2,000 in the number of cattle herds, but the introduction of decoupling on January 1, 2005 accelerated their disappearance to nearly 10 herds per day.
However, the fall in herd numbers is not reflected in the cattle population, as the average herd size continues to increase. Herd size increased by 4% in 2005, to 55.
The CMMS figures show that 42% of all herds have fewer than 25 animals, and two in every three herds in the country have 49 animals or less. Only 17% of herds have more than 100 animals, and the majority of them are dairy farms. The records show 118,291 herds were listed at the end of 2005, with a total population 31,000 ahead of 12 months previously. There was a rise of 46,000 in the number of female animals, and a decline of 16,000 head in the number of male animals.
While the number of animals in the 12 to 24 month age group was 73,000 higher than a year earlier, stronger live exports of calves and young stock resulted in a substantial decline of 80,000 head in the six to 12 months old category.
