Results from the December 2012 Scottish Agricultural Survey

This publication contains results from the 2012 December Agricultural Survey covering

winter sown crops, hay and silage production, livestock and machinery. It provides

commentary and graphics on the latest annual changes and trends over the past ten years,

together with comparisons with June Census results.


Table 2 Number of cattle, 2002 to 2012 (1)

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 % Change between
2011 & 2012
Dairy cows
Cows and heifers in milk 166,919 165,655 167,125 171,055 166,718 165,937 160,070 156,781 154,043 151,991 152,049 0.0%
Cows in calf but not in milk 35,536 35,221 33,158 33,107 32,629 32,087 30,706 28,335 28,559 27,632 27,124 -1.8%
Total 202,455 200,876 200,283 204,162 199,347 198,024 190,776 185,116 182,602 179,623 179,173 -0.3%
Beef cows
Cows and heifers in milk 257,875 262,752 259,104 257,503 244,568 248,273 230,322 226,851 226,436 225,053 217,473 -3.4%
Cows in calf but not in milk 237,923 243,310 246,272 239,317 241,000 222,046 227,336 228,954 240,480 235,054 238,682 1.5%
Total 495,798 506,062 505,376 496,820 485,568 470,319 457,658 455,805 466,916 460,107 456,155 -0.9%
Heifers in calf for the first time
Dairy - 2 years and over 24,631 25,608 24,260 25,359 25,414 23,056 23,339 22,108 23,124 21,984 21,558 -1.9%
- Under 2 years 15,143 19,007 17,665 17,031 16,077 17,040 15,189 16,049 15,976 15,972 18,376 15.1%
Beef - 2 years and over 42,287 39,820 41,181 41,495 40,435 43,703 40,249 41,595 44,286 39,554 37,979 -4.0%
- Under 2 years 20,942 21,463 22,803 21,342 21,196 22,966 20,896 23,009 22,886 22,295 22,858 2.5%
Total 103,003 105,419 105,130 104,400 103,122 106,765 99,673 102,761 106,272 99,805 100,771 1.0%
Bulls for service
2 years and over 16,126 16,696 17,059 17,467 17,815 18,064 17,121 17,048 17,840 16,765 16,885 0.7%
Under 2 years 3,979 4,297 3,770 3,996 3,396 3,605 3,509 4,076 3,930 3,912 3,819 -2.4%
Total 20,105 20,993 20,829 21,463 21,211 21,669 20,630 21,124 21,770 20,677 20,704 0.1%
Other cattle 2 years and over
Male 29,376 25,476 26,592 29,478 30,786 30,716 29,182 33,049 28,906 26,748 26,121 -2.3%
Female for breeding - dairy 8,049 7,172 8,161 7,772 7,598 7,794 6,597 6,998 6,420 5,544 5,812 4.8%
- beef 20,831 22,585 16,955 17,520 17,138 18,627 19,340 17,220 19,052 15,042 19,059 26.7%
Female not for breeding 15,181 13,613 15,104 17,273 19,996 20,068 19,215 18,566 19,685 16,002 17,940 12.1%
Total 73,437 68,846 66,812 72,043 75,518 77,205 74,334 75,833 74,063 63,336 68,932 8.8%
Other cattle 1 year and over but under 2 years
Male 213,988 212,512 214,905 202,054 204,990 193,256 190,169 186,689 180,185 177,732 180,165 1.4%
Female for breeding - dairy 40,110 42,066 38,998 39,659 38,882 36,699 36,682 39,397 39,882 41,157 39,772 -3.4%
- beef 51,070 54,186 52,185 53,503 50,810 52,646 50,135 52,188 53,695 50,675 50,536 -0.3%
Female not for breeding 134,951 133,717 136,381 141,704 140,687 133,793 132,462 122,798 118,080 116,206 113,290 -2.5%
Total 440,119 442,481 442,469 436,920 435,369 416,394 409,448 401,072 391,842 385,770 383,763 -0.5%
Other cattle 6 months and over but under 1 year
Male 162,710 167,221 172,136 169,336 166,028 160,264 159,842 156,350 160,224 161,029 158,116 -1.8%
Female 164,963 168,622 173,770 176,131 169,566 166,109 166,447 159,130 164,550 167,159 164,263 -1.7%
Total 327,673 335,843 345,906 345,467 335,594 326,373 326,289 315,480 324,774 328,188 322,379 -1.8%
Other cattle under 6 months
Male 115,590 116,016 113,106 111,110 103,072 100,078 94,254 95,501 94,325 92,919 90,880 -2.2%
Female 120,663 120,090 120,720 121,036 112,630 109,400 104,393 103,519 101,692 101,469 100,725 -0.7%
Total 236,253 236,106 233,826 232,146 215,702 209,478 198,647 199,020 196,017 194,388 191,605 -1.4%
Total cattle 1,898,843 1,917,105 1,921,410 1,914,248 1,871,431 1,826,227 1,777,455 1,756,211 1,764,256 1,731,894 1,723,482 -0.5%

(1) - Minor holdings accounting for about 0.5% of total cattle are excluded from these results

Contact

Email: Graeme Kerr

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