Near 9% drop in pig numbers in 2022
Non Pigs, Active Production Herd 5 Breeding Pigs, Over 1 135,652 Fattening 1 Keeping Prised National Of And Herds The 1,541 Consisted Which Pigs 951 6m,
The number of pigs in Ireland decreased by nearly 9% last year, the 2022 National Pig Census shows.
The national herd last year consisted of 1,541 active herds keeping over 1.6m, which comprised 135,652 breeding pigs, 1.5m fattening pigs, and 951 non-production pigs.
Total 2022 recorded pig numbers reflect a decrease of 155,153 pigs (8.64%) on the 2021 national herd.
The total number of fattening pigs decreased by 146,254 (8.86%) and the number of breeding pigs decreased by 8,941 (6.18%).
However, overall pig numbers increased in five counties – Leitrim, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, and Westmeath.
The census results have been published this week by the Department of Agriculture.
The date chosen for the 2022 pig census was Sunday, October 23.
That month, pig census forms were issued to the 3,038 pig keepers registered with the Department of Agriculture.
Completed returns were received in respect of 2,712 holdings, representing a response rate of over 89%.
1,171 of the respondent holdings were not active.
The census shows that, as has been the case since 2016, Co Cavan recorded the largest pig population with some 314,418 pigs, representing 19.17% of the total numbers.
Co Cork again recorded the second-highest population with 270,558 pigs (16.5%) and Co Tipperary recorded the third-highest number with 170,604 pigs (10.4%).
Co Cork continued to record the largest number of active herds (228), accounting for 14.8% of the total number.
Counties Wexford and Tipperary were the next highest with 109 and 108 (7%) active herds respectively.
The counties with the smallest numbers of active herds were Dublin (20), Louth (21), and Leitrim (22).
The smallest pig populations were recorded in Dublin (46), Galway(2,875), and Leitrim (3,518).
The average number of pigs kept on an active pig herd was 1,064 which shows a slight increase from the average of 1,060 pigs per active herd in 2021.
43 herds (2.79%) each kept in excess of 10,000 pigs, accounting for 42.8% of the total pig population (702,006).
96.23% of all pigs (over 1.5m) were recorded in 263 herds, each keeping more than 1,000 pigs.
Pig production is expected to fall this year, a result of the contraction of the sow herd that occurred in 2022.
Producers suffered over 18 months of loss-making, described as a "financial nightmare" by the Irish Farmers' Association pigs committee chairman Roy Gallie.
The IFA's latest market update shows that there was no announced change to Irish pig prices recently with farmers reporting quotes of €2.28 as an average Irish price.
However, some farmers are now reporting top prices of circa €2.38 – €2.42 available.
There is a gap between the Irish average price and the EU average price which must be bridged, the IFA said, and Irish farmers must be allowed to receive higher prices reflective of EU levels to achieve a sustainable margin for their pigs.
