The final results of the June 2016 Agricultural Census have been released by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.
The statistics are compiled from a survey of farm businesses augmented by administrative data. The statistics provide robust estimates of crop areas, numbers of livestock and of farmers and workers on active farm businesses on the survey date of 1 June 2016.
The main changes between June 2015 and June 2016 are:
- Cereals: The area of cereals grown increased by 2% to 33,400 ha with winter wheat, winter barley and oats all increasing in 2016. Spring barley fell by 6% but still remains the most popular cereal crop with 14,700 ha planted across Northern Ireland.
- Other crops: The area of potatoes increased by 4% to 3,700 ha, a slight recovery from 2015 which had the lowest area ever recorded for the crop. The area of arable crop silage remained similar to 2015 levels at 3,300 ha, whereas, the area of forage maize fell by 15% to 1,300ha. This fall in the forage maize area continues a downward trend that began in 2008 when 3,500 ha was grown.
- Cattle: Total cattle numbers were 3% higher than in June 2015. The number of dairy cows increased by 2% to 317,100 head, which is an all time high. The number of beef cows increased by 4% to 269,700.
- Sheep: There was a 2% rise in the number of breeding ewes compared with 2015. Numbers have fluctuated in recent years, falling to a 20 year low of 876,000 in 2010 before increasing to 955,200 this year, which is the highest level since 2007. Lamb numbers have increased by 2% which links in with the increase in ewe numbers. Overall, the total number of sheep recorded surpassed 2 million which again is a level not seen since 2007.
- Pigs: In comparison to 2015, there were a 13% decrease in the number of gilts in pig, a 5% increase in sows in pig and a 3% increase in other sows. With these changes the total female breeding herd increased by 2% to 46,400. Overall, the pig herd was 6% larger, mainly as a result of growth in the number of fattening pigs. Imports of pigs for finishing had an influence on numbers, however a small number of large, highly productive businesses, drive most of the change in the sector.
- Poultry: Laying birds recorded for the 1 June 2016 increased by 12% to 3.6 million birds while the number of growing pullets increased by 6% at that date. The laying bird population has shown strong growth since 2013 and this is partly due to new producers who have entered the industry.
- Farmers and workers: The size of the agricultural labour force decreased by 1% from the previous year to 47,700. Within this, there was a 2% reduction in the number of full-time farmers and business partners and a 1% increase in the numbers of part-time farmers and business partners. Overall the numbers of farmers and business partners decreased by 1% to 29,800. A similar pattern was recorded for other farm workers, with full-time categories showing a 7% decrease while part-time categories increased by 6%.
Notes to editors:
- The survey results were prepared by Statistics and Analytical Services Branch, CAP Policy, Economics and Statistics Division of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Dundonald House, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast, BT4 3SB.
- In an effort to reduce the compliance burden on farmers, the survey form sent to farmers omitted most of the cattle and all of the poultry and pig questions. Survey information was then augmented with data from APHIS for missing cattle variables, the Update of the Northern Ireland Bird Register for poultry and the Annual Inventory of Pigs.
- Full details of the coverage of the census and of terms used were given in the booklet “The Agricultural Census in Northern Ireland: Results for June 2015” (DAERA, 2016) and will be repeated in the 2016 issue of this annual publication, available in January 2017. These booklets may be accessed on the Department’s internet site, free of charge.
- These statistics are released according to the Statement of Compliance with the Pre-release access to Official Statistics Order (NI) 2009 which can be downloaded from the DAERA website.
- These results were compiled from a sample of approximately 14,000 statistical returns, augmented with data from the APHIS cattle tracing system, the Update of the NI Bird Register returns and the Annual Inventory of Pigs.
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