Scottish agricultural survey: December 2016

Annual agricultural survey based on data from larger agricultural holdings together with estimates for smaller farms.


Table 3 Number of sheep, 2006 to 2016 1

change in data collection
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Sheep 1 year old or over
Ewes kept for breeding 3,154,831 3,087,769 2,938,365 2,880,901 2,831,403 2,791,010 2,847,481 2,796,462 2,930,534 2,883,076 2,797,741
Other sheep 256,061 261,071 238,290 210,530 216,511 210,971 236,120 242,600 208,884 724,943 416,224
Total 3,410,892 3,348,840 3,176,655 3,091,431 3,047,914 3,001,981 3,083,601 3,039,062 3,139,418 3,608,019 3,213,965
Sheep under 1 year old
Lambs put to ram 92,884 94,821 77,286 100,538 101,481 109,357 91,496 85,670 108,599 127,946 116,527
Lambs not put to ram 1,900,264 1,883,396 1,761,153 1,652,160 1,645,203 1,577,481 1,733,373 1,638,973 1,593,396 1,223,638 1,713,018
Total 1,993,148 1,978,217 1,838,439 1,752,698 1,746,684 1,686,838 1,824,869 1,724,643 1,701,995 1,351,584 1,829,545
Total sheep 5,404,040 5,327,057 5,015,094 4,844,129 4,794,598 4,688,819 4,908,470 4,763,705 4,841,413 4,959,603 5,043,510

(1) From 2015, the collection of sheep data incorporated that via the Sheep and Goat Annual Inventory. This also resulted in a change in the sheep categories, and increased the number of holdings included within the survey. From 2016, the sheep categories were made more similar to years prior to 2015. However, comparisons with previous years should be made with caution.

Contact

Email: agric.stats@gov.scot

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