THE NUMBER of sheep in the national herd has fallen to its lowest level in 23 years, according to figures issued this week by the Central Statistics Office.
The figures showed there were 5.06 million sheep in the herd in June last, an 8.3 per cent decline over the previous year when 5.52 million animals were recorded.
The report said this decrease was due to a reduction of 182,500 in the ewe population over two years old and 57,500 fewer young ewes under two. This represented a 7.6 per cent fall in the older ewe population and a 12.7 per cent fall in the younger ewe population which was further decreased by a drop of 7,800 rams and a fall of 212,400 in what it described as “other sheep”.
A regional analysis of the herd showed the largest number of sheep, just over 1.3 million, was in the west while the Border region accounted for the next highest population of nearly one million. Sheep farmers have experienced difficult trading conditions and have campaigned for more aid from the European Commission.
Declining prices for product and competition from outside the European Union caused the decline, which accelerated since the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 2001.
The CSO figures showed a rise in cattle numbers by 0.2 per cent to a total of 6.71 million animals compared with the previous year.