Livestock populations in England as of June 1, this yr, have declined when in comparison with the identical month final yr, the June Survey of Agriculture has proven.

The outcomes of the survey, that are estimates of cattle, sheep, pig and poultry populations on business agricultural holdings in England, have been revealed by the Division for Setting, Meals and Rural Affairs (Defra) yesterday (Wednesday, August 31).

The pig inhabitants has seen the largest decline. In 2022, the full variety of pigs in England decreased by 3% to only over 4.1 million animals. Breeding pigs decreased by 18%, whereas fattening pigs fell by 1.4%.

The feminine breeding herd accounts for nearly 80% of breeding pigs and fell by 17% to 261,000, which is, Defra mentioned, the bottom it has been previously 20 years.

The subsequent-largest lower was within the poultry inhabitants, which fell by 1.6% to 139 million in 2022.

Broiler numbers noticed a small lower of 0.5%, to only over 97 million and the breeding and laying flock fell by 2.6%, to nearly 33 million.

The cattle and calf inhabitants fell by 0.7% from June 2021 figures to face at 5.1 million animals in June 2022.

The breeding herd noticed a lower of 1.3% to face at 1.7 million, however continues to account for simply over a 3rd of the general complete variety of cattle in England.

The dairy herd fell by 0.7% whereas the meat herd fell by 2.2%.

The sheep inhabitants nonetheless, elevated within the yr in contrast with June 2021 by 2% to achieve 14.9 million.

The feminine breeding flock elevated by 2.9% to 7.1 million and lambs elevated by 1.5% to 7.5 million.