Sheep and goat keepers must complete census form
Data from the 2022 census shows that a total of 4m sheep were kept across the over 42,000 active registered herds in the country at the end of December 2022.
Annual sheep and goat census forms have been issued to over 49,000 sheep and goat keepers registered with the Department of Agriculture.
In keeping with previous years, the department has selected Sunday, December 31, as the 2023 census date.
Keepers should be aware that completion and return of the census is a legal obligation.
Keepers are also required to record the census data on their flock registers.
Failure to return a completed form on time could impact on eligibility for certain department schemes.
Postal returns will continue to be accepted up to January 31, 2024.
However, the department said it is encouraging keepers to return their census data online via agfood.ie or digitally through the new AIM Services mobile app that can be downloaded to a mobile device and can be accessed using the keeper’s agfood.ie username and password.
An extended deadline of February 14 applies to returns submitted online or via the app only.
The sheep and goat censuses provide statistical information to the department and other organisations involved in the development of the industry.
For individual farmers, submission of a completed census is central in determining stocking rates and facilitates the drawing down of payments under schemes such as the Sheep Welfare Scheme, Basic Income Support for Sustainability, and Areas of Natural Constraints.
Failure to return the census on time may also impact on other future related payments from this department.
Census information is further used during farm/flock inspections where the inspector has details of the census returns submitted for the holding in the last number of years.
This information is used as the basis for identifying whether animal records have been adequately maintained through the keeper flock register.
Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue has thanked sheep and goat keepers for their ongoing engagement with the census process, where response rates of some 90% are generally achieved.
Data from the 2022 census shows that a total of 4m sheep were kept across the over 42,000 active registered herds in the country at the end of December 2022.
The 2022 sheep population shows a decrease of approximately 14,000 (0.35%) on the total numbers recorded in December 2021.
There were over 2.6m breeding ewes over 12 months of age, which is a decrease of almost 36,000 (1.3%) on the previous year’s breeding ewe population.
A total of 85,802 breeding rams was recorded - a decrease of over 400 on the previous year.
1.26m other sheep were recorded (including lambs, wethers, cull ewes). This category increased by over 22,000 in 2022 (1.78%).
