Livestock Numbers Increase in 2013

Livestock numbers from the December Survey show that there were 5.3m cattle and calves in England between December 2012 and December 2013, an increase of 0.3% according to Defra. The dairy herd increased by 1.5% to 1.1m but the beef herd continued to decrease by 2.6% to 699,000 during 2013.

There were 3.6m pigs in England in December 2013 an increase of 5.5% since December 2012. Fattening pigs increased by 7% to 3.2m while breeding pigs decreased by 4.2% to 411,000 in December 2013.

The total number of sheep and lambs in England between December 2012 and December 2013 increased by 1.6% to 10.9m. The female breeding stock increased by 6.3% to 6.9m. Other sheep and lambs fell by 5.7% to 4m against the upward trend.

November Increase In Animal Feed Production

Animal feed retail production in Great Britain increased by 6.2% in November 2012 compared with November 2011. Raw material usage increased 6.1%. Integrated feed production increased 1.2%.

The quarterly average prices of animal feedingstuffs for July to September 2012 increased across the board. The price of cattle and calf feed was up 1.04% at £232/tonne (£223/tonne), pig feed was up 1.04% at £268/tonne (£258/tonne) and sheep feed was up 1.05% at £234/tonne (£222/tonne).

Cereals Farmers See Big Rise In Incomes

The Farm Business Survey results show that income figures have substantially increased in the year ending February 2011. In 2010/11, incomes increased on arable and mixed farms and a smaller increase on dairy farms. However, average incomes fell on beef, sheep and pig farms. Significant variations in incomes exist within the sectors.

Mixed farms saw an increase of 57% while cereals farms increased their incomes by 107%. General cropping farms increases were 80%. The average increase across all types was 33%. In real terms it means a 97% increase for cereal farms, 72% for general cropping farms and a 49% increase for mixed farms.

Over half of cereal, general cropping and dairy farms had an income over £50,000 and a third over £75,000 but more than 15% of LFA and lowland grazing farms didn't make any profit at all and approximately 60% had incomes of less than £20,000. Different farms are influenced by a variety of different factors including size, location and soil type. The variation in incomes also reflects the differences in production costs.

Animal Feed Production In August Down On Last Year

The total British animal feed product for August was down 2.9% when compared with August 2010. Raw material usage was down 2.8% and integrated feed production was down 1.8%.

Quarterly average animal feed prices stood at £219/tonne for cattle and calf feed, £260/tonne for pig feed and £216/tonne for sheep feed for the period April to June 2011.

Animal Feed Production Down In May

The animal feed statistical notice from Defra for May shows that animal feed retail production in May 2011 was down 3.4% compared with May 2010. Raw material usage in the retail production of animal feed was also down 3.3% compared with the same period last year. Total integrated feed production was down 0.1%.

The quarterly average prices of animal feedstuffs for January to March were also included in the bulletin. Cattle and calf feed was on average £207/tonne, pig feed was £250/tonne and sheep feed was £203/tonne.

UK Livestock Slaughter Statistics For May

The key points in Defra's latest information on slaughterings of cattle, sheep and pigs for May 2011 are that at 170,000 there was a 4% increase in the number of UK prime cattle slaughterings over May 2010. Beef and veal were 7% up on May 2010 with 74,000 tonnes. Sheep slaughterings were also 4% up on last year at 727,000 head. Mutton and lamb were 4% up with 17,000 tonnes. Pigs increased 3% to 718,000 tonnes compared to May 2010. Pigmeat production was 59,000 tonnes, an increase of 3% on May last year.

Defra Releases December Survey Results

Defra recently released statistics from the December Survey as at 2010 giving details of crops and pigs and population estimates of cattle and sheep.

The wheat cropping area remained stable again last year decreasing by 0.5% to 1.8m hectares. Winter oilseed rape areas increased by 12% to 655,000 hectares and the winter barley area decreased by 8.5% to 310,000 hectares. The area of arable land to be left out of production in 2010-11 increased by 9.3% and is 248,000 hectares. The area may change depending on factors like market conditions and the weather. The amount of hay produced in 2010 was 2m tonnes and the grass silage produced amounted to 20.5m tonnes. Silage from other crops totalled 5m tonnes.

On the livestock side, the total number of cattle and calves decreased by 1% to 5.4m. Pigs decreased in number by 1.7% from 3.6m to 3.5m and there were 415,000 breeding pigs. Sheep and lambs remained stable at 9.9m.

Cattle, Sheep And Pigs Up On Last Year

Prime cattle slaughter numbers were up 15% on January last year to 209,000 head in January 2011. Beef and veal production were up 20%. Sheep numbers were up 5% with mutton and lamb up 10% on last year. Clean pigs slaughter numbers were up7% on January 2010 at 906,000 head. Pigmeat production was 75,000 tonnes, up 8% on last year.

Increase In Agricultural Prices

Defra has released the Agricultural Prices Index series for August 2010. The API all products price index for prices received by producers for agricultural products increased from 137.6 in July to 142.0 in August. Cereals prices increased overall from an index of 144.6 to 176.6 with wheat, barley and oats all going up, industrial crops also increased from 157.9 to 163.8 with potato and oilseed rape prices increasing and sugar beet unchanged. Fresh fruit prices also increased but the prices index for fresh vegetables fell from 124.9 to 116.9. The overall crops products index increased from 138.8 to 146.3 but seed and other crop products remained the same. Calf prices fell but cows and bulls increased and cattle increased helping the animal and animal products index increase slightly from 136.6 to 138.2.

Prices paid by producers for agricultural inputs have also increased slightly from an index of 139.7 in July to 141.7 in August 2010. Seed prices and spray prices stayed the same over the month but fertiliser prices increased slightly from 245.1 in July to 248.6 in August. Energy prices increased slightly from 148.1 to 148.5. The cost of animal feedingstuffs increased from an index of 159.9 in July to 164.6 in August 2010 with significant increases in the prices of feed wheat and feed barley. The prices of goods and services of plant and buildings and veterinary services increased slightly overall. There was a slight increase in the price of machinery and equipment and farm buildings prices were unchanged. The index for all means of agricultural production increased by two points from 139.7 to 141.7.

Agriculture's June Survey 2010 Provisional Results

The latest June Survey statistics from Defra show the provisional estimates for land use, crop areas and livestock numbers on agricultural holdings on June 1 2010. They give a good idea of trends but they are provisional and could be subject to amendment at a later date.

The agricultural land area in 2010 was 9.3m hectares. The area on agricultural holdings remained unchanged at 8.9m hectares. Common rough grazing remained unchanged at 428,000 hectares. The arable area also remained more or less unchanged at slightly under 3.8m hectares while to total cropping area increased slightly to 3,915,000 hectares from 3,902,000 hectares in 2009 (revised). All regions increased their wheat area.

The number of cattle increased by 1% to 5.5 million. The total breeding herd was up by 0.9% to 1,916,000. There were 756,000 cattle in the beef herd and 1,160,000 in the dairy breeding herd in 2010.

The number of breeding pigs increased to by 1.4% to 427,000 from 421,000. The number of fattening pigs decreased by 2% to 3.2 million. The female breeding herd numbered 351,000 in 2010 and other breeding pigs increased by 10.7% to 76,000 in 2010 which included 15,000 boars. The total number of pigs decreased by 1.6% to 3,630,000.

The female breeding flock remained unchanged at 6.4 million. The fall in the number of lambs from 7.49 million to 7.24 million was a factor in reducing the total number of sheep to 14.1 million from 14.4 million in 2009.

Animal Health Planning Pays

The Farm Business Survey included an animal health and welfare module asking some general questions about animal health planning. It also included more detailed questions on livestock type, expenditure and disease prevention and veterinary expenses.

The analysis carried out on the data collected showed that 73% of farms had a formal written plan for at least one of the livestock species they kept. The principal reason for the health plan was for marketing and farm assurance schemes.

Beef farms with health plans had mortality rates 1.8% lower than farms with no plans and enterprise output (EO) was £10/head higher. They spent £2/head less on vet & med expenses and expenditure on routine vet costs on farms with no plans was double that of farms with plans. A total of 54% of farms with plans were in the low mortality group. Calf mortality was highest in the group with no formal health plans.

Vet & med expenditure on dairy farms did not vary much with economic performance on herd size but the higher performing farms spent more on routine vet services and had the lowest overall mortality rate. The high performance farms were also those with the largest average herd size though they did also have the highest incidence rate for mastitis. The dairy farms with the higher mortality rates spent less on routine vet services and more on non-routine services than farms with lower mortality rates.

Mortality rates on sheep farms without health plans were highest at 7.1% on average. Lamb and ewe mortality was lower overall for farms with formal written plans or instructions and the average EO was £7 higher per breeding ewe than for farms without a plan. Farms with higher mortality rates generally spent less on vet & med than those with lower mortality rates.

Mortality rates on pig farms of all types was 11%. Where the sample was of breeding herds selling weaned or fat pigs the mortality rate went up to 15% and where the holding type was fattening, rearing or other the rate went down to 5%. It was not possible to produce analysis by plan type due to a shortage of the relevant data.

Vets are the main source of information for animal health matters for farmers. Less than a sixth of farmers had specific animal health insurance. The most likely to have insurance were dairy farmers followed by beef, pigs and sheep.

Defra Slaughter Statistics

The numbers of cattle, sheep and pigs slaughtered in the UK were released by Defra today. Cattle slaughterings are up 2% to 163,000 head, sheep 15% lower at 773,000 and pigs were 4% higher at 704,000 in February 2010 than they were in February 2009.

The monthly volumes of meat produced UK show that 71,000 tonnes of beef, 18,000 tonnes of mutton and lamb and 58,000 tonnes of pigmeat were produced in the UK in February. These statistics refer to meat produced for human consumption in the UK but includes livestock imported into the UK for slaughter.

In addition to all the 'clean' meat slaughterings, 43,000 tonnes of meat was produced from cows and adult bulls, 4,000 tonnes from calves, 136,000 tonnes of ewe and ram meat and 18,000 tonnes of boar and sow meat was produced.

December Survey of Agriculture 2009

The December Survey of Agriculture in England 2009 gives data showing the winter crops areas and livestock numbers of agricultural holdings in England as of 1 December 2009.

The area of wheat sown by 1 December 2009 increased by 10.9% on 2008 to 1.8m hectares. The winter OSR area increased by 9% to 589 thousand hectares from 541 thousand hectares and winter barley decreased 4.8% to 342 thousand hectares. Oats and field beans increased to 83 and 88 thousand hectares respectively. The area of arable land intended to be left out of production in 2009/10 is 226 thousand hectares more or less unchanged from 2009.

Hay production increased in 2009 by 6.3% to 2.2m tonnes. Silage production from grass decreased by 2.4% to18.4m tonnes. Silage produced from other crops increased by 4.2% to 4.6m tonnes.

There were a total of 5.5m cattle and calves in England in December 2009. An increase of 1% from 5.4m in 2008. The dairy herd decreased by 1.4% to 1.2m which offset an increase in the beef herd of 1.1% to 731,000. The total breeding herd remained more or less unchanged at 1.9m.

The total number of pigs in England in 2009 increased by 1.3% from 3.7m in 2008 to 3.8m in 2009. The number of breeding pigs increased by 4% to 438,000 in December 2009 from 354,000 in 2008. Fattening pigs increased to 3.3m. The increased numbers may be due partly to lower costs and steady prices which has resulted in amny producers seeing profits.

Sheep and lambs in England decreased by 3.8% to 9.9m in 2009. The female breeding flock decreased by 2.2% to 6.2m continuing a downward trend beginning in 2004. Sheep prices have remained good but supply has been reduced due to the reduction in the size of the breeding flock.

Final June Agricultural Survey Results, England 2009

The final June Survey results for England were released by DEFRA and ONS on 19 November 2009. Some of the key results were that the total area of agricultural holdings in England has increased to 9.4m hectares since 2008. The total croppable area is estimated at 4.9m hectares. The area cropped has fallen to 3.99m hectares but the total land out of arable production stands at 231,000 hectares. Fruit and vegetables grown outdoors account for 140,000 hectares, up 2% on 2008. Common rough grazing stands at 427,900 ha. The total agricultural area has increased in size again this year to 9.8m ha.

Owner occupied land is largely the same as 2008 at 6.3m ha. Land rented for more than a year is also unchanged at 3.3m ha. The area under Full Agricultural Tenancy agreements (FAT) continued to decrease, by 2.9%, to 1,680,900 ha and Farm Business Tenancies have increased 3.8% to 1,094,400 ha. Other agreements have risen to 497,800 ha, up 2.2%.

The national herd of cattle remained at around 5.5m according to the Cattle Tracing Scheme. There were 3.9m pigs, up 0.5%. These included 444,000 breeding pigs. The national sheep flock was 14,984,000 sheep and lambs, down 3.5% on June 2008. The female breeding flock of 6,672,000, down 5.1% on last year, included 5,550,000 ewes for further breeding and 797,00 first time breeding ewes. 326,000 ewes were intended for slaughter. Rams totalled 171,000, down 5.4% on 2008.

The total number of people employed in agricultural was 363,000 up nearly 3,000 from last year. These included 223,000 farmers, business partners, directors and spouses of which 127,200 were part-time, 11,900 salaried managers and 127,800 other workers, 49,400 of which were full-time, the rest part-time or seasonal/casual or gang workers.

June Survey Results From DEFRA

The preliminary estimates of the June Agricultural and Horticultural Survey of the UK for 2009 have been published by DEFRA. The final results will be published later in the year but the preliminary results still give a good estimation of trends in land use, crop areas and livestock.

Agricultural land areas in the UK have increased by 2% since June 2008 and the total croppable area is now 6.2 million hectares. Of the 36% of agricultural land that is considered croppable about half is under cereals, another 20% is temporary grassland. Unused arable land, including bare fallow and GAEC12 land, has increased by 25% to 244,000 hectares.

Arable returns show that the estimated total cereal cropping area in the UK has decreased by 5% to 3.1 million hectares since last year. Wheat accounts for 1.8 million hectares or 70% of cereals, 14% lower than last year and barley, which accounts for 1.15 million hectares, is 12% higher at 26%. The area of land under potatoes has increased again this year by 3.4% to 1.48 million hectares. Oilseeds continue to decrease in area, now at 6.02 million hectares, a 3.4% change on last year. Other field crops have shown a 21.3% increase in area to 6.39 million hectares largely due to large increases in the area of field beans, peas and maize.

Pease and beans have decreased in area to 403,000 hectares but all other vegetables and salads have increased in total area to 814,000 hectares.

National livestock herd sizes of cattle, sheep and pigs have decreased since June 2008. The total number of cattle and calves has decreased by 0.8% to slightly more than 10 million, the breeding herd has decreased by 3% to 3.5 million due to decreases of 3% in both the beef herd and in the dairy herd to 1.6 and 1.9 million respectively. Pigs decreased by 2% from June 2008 to 4.6 million. Breeding sows numbered 440,000, up 5%. The total number of sheep and lambs decreased by 4% to 31.8 million. There were 14.8 million breeding ewes, a decrease of 5% and other sheep and lambs decreased by 3% to 17 million.