6. Livestock
According to the June Agricultural Census returns there were estimated to be 1,897,180 cattle, 7,490,700 sheep and 456,750 pigs in Scotland in June 2007. Figure 7 shows that 30% of Scottish holdings had sheep at the time of the June Agricultural Census 2007 with 26% containing cattle (17.5% with beef cows/heifers in milk and 3.2% with dairy cows/heifers in milk) and 1.8% containing pigs.
Figure 7 Proportion of Scottish Holdings with Livestock - June 2007
Source: Adapted from Scottish Government REAS, 2008
Table 4 shows the significant variance in average herd sizes of cattle, sheep and pigs that exists across Scotland's four NUTSII regions. For example, the average dairy herd in South West Scotland is 92% larger than the average dairy herd in the Highlands and Islands. This is more pronounced when considering the average number of cattle per holding where the South West farms have more than 2.5 times as many cattle per holding than the Highlands. Eastern Scotland contains the largest sheep flocks, carrying more than 3.5 times as many breeding ewes and nearly 4 times the amount of sheep as those in the Highlands and Islands. This reflects the differences in fertility and climate between the regions. The figures also reveal that the pig units in the North East of Scotland are considerably larger than the other regions, followed by Eastern Scotland.
Table 4 Average Herd Size, 2007 by Scotland's NUTSII region
| North Eastern Scotland | Eastern Scotland | South Western Scotland | Highlands & Islands | Scotland |
|---|
Dairy cows & heifers in milk | 95.4 | 91.2 | 110.9 | 57.7 | 100.2 |
|---|
Beef cows & heifers in milk | 48.1 | 52.9 | 49.8 | 28.2 | 42.2 |
|---|
Total cattle | 140.9 | 154.1 | 206.3 | 78.8 | 142.3 |
|---|
Breeding ewes | 159.3 | 436.1 | 323.5 | 123.4 | 214.2 |
|---|
Total sheep | 345.9 | 1002.9 | 761.4 | 263.4 | 486.4 |
|---|
Sows in pig | 216.0 | 87.0 | 35.2 | 23.0 | 98.1 |
|---|
Total pigs | 1072.9 | 452.9 | 152.1 | 124.1 | 483.2 |
|---|
Source: Adapted from Scottish Government REAS, 2008
Table 5 shows the distribution of each livestock category across the NUTSII regions. Similar patterns to average herd size are observed with over two-thirds of Scotland's pigs being located in the North East, three-quarters of dairy cows and about 40% of all cattle being located in the South West. The distribution of beef cows, breeding ewes and total sheep is however much more evenly distributed amongst Eastern Scotland, The South West and the Highlands and Islands.
Table 5 Proportion of Scottish livestock in NUTSII Regions, 2007
| Proportion of Scottish Herd | Scotland |
|---|
North Eastern Scotland | Eastern Scotland | South Western Scotland | Highlands & Islands |
|---|
Dairy cows & heifers in milk | 6.4% | 11.4% | 74.5% | 7.8% | 170,842 |
|---|
Beef cows & heifers in milk | 18.0% | 26.8% | 30.5% | 24.7% | 378,772 |
|---|
Total cattle | 18.4% | 22.5% | 41.3% | 17.9% | 1,898,538 |
|---|
Breeding ewes | 6.9% | 33.5% | 27.2% | 32.4% | 2,919,571 |
|---|
Total sheep | 7.5% | 34.7% | 28.2% | 29.5% | 7,498,216 |
|---|
Sows in pig | 67.4% | 19.4% | 6.0% | 7.3% | 30,114 |
|---|
Total pigs | 65.3% | 21.5% | 5.1% | 8.1% | 456,669 |
|---|
Source: Adapted from Scottish Government REAS, 2008
Figure 8 highlights the cumulative changes in Scottish livestock numbers between 1997 and 2007 (shown in Table 6) whilst Figure 9 shows the changes in breeding stock numbers over the same period.
Table 6 Scottish livestock numbers selected years 1997 - 2007
| 1997 | 2001 | 2004 | 2007 |
|---|
Breeding Dairy Cows | 216,800 | 195,950 | 194,540 | 197,970 |
|---|
Breeding Beef Cows | 513,750 | 489,070 | 492,870 | 471,610 |
|---|
Breeding Ewes | 3,810,350 | 3,277,170 | 3,179,430 | 2,916,680 |
|---|
Breeding pigs | 69,650 | 61,270 | 48,830 | 40,150 |
|---|
Total cattle | 2,078,900 | 1,905,320 | 1,949,730 | 1,897,180 |
|---|
Total sheep | 9,563,190 | 8,109,890 | 7,982,300 | 7,490,700 |
|---|
Total pigs | 644,890 | 596,460 | 469,700 | 456,750 |
|---|
Source: Final results of the 2007 June Agricultural Censushttp://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/915/0053707.xls
The following key points arise from these figures:
- There has been a significant reduction in total pig numbers (29.2%) since 1997, although improvements in the pig sector has meant there has only been a 2.8% fall in pig numbers between 2004 and 2007. The main fall between 1998 and 1999 was largely due to the pig sector crisis at the time. The subsequent apparent recovery observed in 2001 was largely due to farmers being unable to move animals to slaughter during the 2001 Foot and Mouth Disease ( FMD) outbreak. It should be noted that the fall in the breeding pig herd is even more pronounced than total pigs.
- There has also been a significant reduction in the number of sheep in Scotland, falling by 21.7% since 1997. A significant proportion of this decline was seen in 2001 amid the FMD outbreak (a reduction of about 1 million sheep). Post FMD, there was only a 1.6% fall in sheep numbers between 2001 and 2004 although since the advent of the Single Farm Payment there was a 6.2% fall in sheep numbers between 2004 and 2007 as farmers make structural adjustments post CAP reform and react to market signals. Changes in the breeding flock mirror those of total sheep numbers.
- The fall in the number of cattle was less pronounced, falling by 8.7% between 1997 and 2007. As with pigs and sheep a significant proportion of this came in 2001 amid the FMD outbreak with a reduction in Scottish cattle numbers of over 100,000 (6.1%) in a year. Post FMD there was a recovery in the number of cattle (averaging 0.7% per annum) till 2005 after which there was a 3% decline (post Single Farm Payment). This decline post 2005 is due entirely to a reduction in the number of beef cows, which until 2007 had not declined as much (proportionately) as the breeding dairy herd. As shown in Figure 9, both the beef and dairy breeding herds were reduced by about 5.5% during 2001 ( FMD outbreak). Whilst the breeding dairy herd has recovered slightly (by 1.1% growth between 2001 and 2007) the breeding beef herd has fallen a further 3.6%, the majority (3.2%) coming in 2007 as farmers adjust to the Single Farm Payment and a market based approach to beef farming in Scotland.
Figure 8 Cumulative changes in total Scottish livestock numbers 1997 - 2007
Source: Adapted from: Final results of the 2007 June Agricultural Census
Figure 9 Cumulative changes in breeding livestock in Scotland 1997 - 2007
Source: Adapted from: Final results of the 2007 June Agricultural Census