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UK milking herd at June steady in 2021
Thursday, 6 January 2022
By Kat Jack
The size of the UK milking herd[1] was steady overall between June 2020 and June 2021, at 1.85 million head, according to the Defra agricultural survey results published last month.
Although the overall UK figure was unchanged, there were some movements within the devolved nations. The breeding herd in England fell, while the herds in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all grew, balancing out the English decline.
Looking beyond the milking herd, there was a dip in the ‘Other female cattle’ category[2], down 12% from 266k head a year ago to 235k head in June 2021. This dip was seen across the devolved nations to varying degrees. With no change in the size of the milking herd figure, this means the UK pool of dairy females aged 2+ years is down year-on-year.
In contrast, youngstock numbers rose. The number of dairy females aged less than 1 year increased 6.8% to 588k head, and 1-2 year olds rose 3.5% to 536k head. This has the potential to increase the milking herd size in future years, or to reduce the average age of the milking herd if older, less productive animals are replaced.
[1] Dairy females aged 2+ years who have calved
[2] Dairy females aged 2+ years who have not calved or are in calf for the first time
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