September 22, 2010

English cattle herd up this year, pig down

The English cattle herd expanded slightly this year, but pig numbers fell, provisional June 2010 census figures show.

The total number of cattle increased by 1% compared with 2009 to 5.5 million head, with a 3% increase in the beef breeding herd. There was a large decline in beef heifers as more dairy sires were used on farms - the number of dairy heifers under two years old rose. The dairy breeding herd was relatively stable.

Total pig numbers were 2% down at 3.6 million, thought to be largely due to higher prices in the first half of the year encouraging increased slaughterings. A 5% fall in the number of sows in-pig was more than offset by a 28% rise in gilts in-pig and 14% rise in maiden gilts.