Publication - FOI/EIR release

Average stock numbers of cattle and sheep for 2018, 2019 and 2022: EIR release

Published: 4 October 2023
Directorate: Environment and Forestry Directorate
Topic: Public sector
FOI reference: 202300360540
Date received: 7 June 2023
Date responded: 29 June 2023

Information request and response under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004.

Information requested

You asked for “Average stock numbers of cattle and sheep for 2018, 2019 and 2022 broken down by local rural payments office”.

As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

Response

I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested in the two tables below. The data are all sourced from the June Agricultural Census. We have provided 2021 figures in the place of 2022 figures, as the Census did not take place in 2022, due to the ongoing transformation of our statistics. For more information on the Census, including our methodology, please visit Scottish Agricultural Census: results - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). December 2022 figures for sheep and cattle can be found here: Annual Sheep and Goat Inventory and Cattle Results: December 2022 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). If you would like a further breakdown of these figures, please email us at agric.stats@gov.scot.

Cattle stocks by area office for 2018, 2019 and 2021

Cattle stocks	2018			2019			2021
Area office	Number of holdings	Total cattle	Average cattle per holding	Number of holdings	Total cattle	Average cattle per holding	Number of holdings	Total cattle	Average cattle per holding
Inverurie	1,804	291,375	162	1,752	281,579	161	1,661	285,496	172
Perth	1,446	217,726	151	1,406	215,148	153	1,358	208,451	154
Oban	633	50,321	80	612	50,677	83	607	50,701	84
Ayr	1,549	353,631	228	1,529	348,677	228	1,468	347,419	237
Elgin	329	50,396	153	319	47,982	150	316	46,708	148
Galashiels	907	186,142	205	909	187,778	207	883	186,975	212
Thurso	447	44,187	99	430	43,653	102	426	44,399	104
Dumfries	1,149	294,237	256	1,109	289,644	261	1,078	289,685	269
Hamilton	656	105,666	161	642	102,648	160	615	101,710	165
Inverness	827	60,292	73	796	58,789	74	778	58,393	75
Benebecula	253	4,422	17	243	4,298	18	237	4,212	18
Stornoway	152	1,731	11	147	1,585	11	146	1,728	12
Portree	242	6,322	26	239	6,335	27	237	6,499	27
Kirkwall	502	77,633	155	499	77,687	156	483	77,071	160
Golspie	192	6,764	35	188	6,718	36	181	7,138	39
Lerwick	159	4,473	28	155	4,529	29	151	4,792	32
All	11,247	1,755,318	156	10,975	1,727,727	157	10,625	1,721,377	162

Data from Cattle Tracing Scheme as part of the June Agricultural Census 2018, 2019 and 2021.

Sheep stocks by area office for 2018, 2019 and 2021

Sheep stocks	2018			2019			2021
Area office	Number of holdings	Total sheep	Average sheep per holding	Number of holdings	Total sheep	Average sheep per holding	Number of holdings	Total sheep	Average sheep per holding
Inverurie	1,496	513,226	343	1,515	519,176	343	1,584	549,920	347
Perth	1,474	1,030,777	699	1,496	1,034,527	692	1,555	1,063,394	684
Oban	865	381,519	441	876	388,117	443	908	402,768	444
Ayr	1,180	668,631	567	1,181	692,333	586	1,200	716,969	597
Elgin	301	171,321	569	302	163,926	543	315	165,277	525
Galashiels	1,252	1,292,259	1,032	1,274	1,341,914	1,053	1,295	1,353,343	1,045
Thurso	699	208,891	299	704	203,571	289	703	216,158	307
Dumfries	1,077	822,145	763	1,089	821,922	755	1,111	828,437	746
Hamilton	608	350,759	577	611	357,680	585	628	363,164	578
Inverness	1,229	385,247	313	1,231	380,373	309	1,262	382,190	303
Benebecula	710	47,943	68	714	47,300	66	713	48,432	68
Stornoway	1,502	95,106	63	1,497	93,731	63	1,494	94,815	63
Portree	569	116,036	204	586	115,259	197	595	112,534	189
Kirkwall	522	116,344	223	523	118,764	227	537	130,134	242
Golspie	435	112,152	258	442	111,663	253	458	114,604	250
Lerwick	1,122	274,043	244	1,125	278,844	248	1,125	289,566	257
All	15,041	6,586,399	438	15,166	6,669,100	440	15,483	6,831,705	441

Data from June Agricultural Census 2018, 2019 and 2021.

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Email: ceu@gov.scot
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