National Pig Census
October 2014
(Photo: Compliments of Teagasc)
National Pig Census
October 2014
The Diseases of Animals Act 1966 (National Pig Identification and Tracing System) (Amendment)
Order 2010 (S.I. 364 of 2010) requires that any person who keeps any pigs, must, at least annually,
conduct a census on his/her holding, at a time determined by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and
the Marine.
2014 Pig Census forms issued to the 4,295 pig keepers registered with the Department in September
2014 and reminders issued to non-respondents in November 2014. Herd keepers were informed
that registered herds where pigs were not kept in 2014 or 2013 would be made inactive on the
Department’s system, as would herds from which no return was received in respect of 2014.
The 2014 Census outcomes reflect all data received in the Department by 15th January 2015.
Returns were received from 3,766 pig keepers, representing a response rate of over 88%. A total of
2,313 active herds were recorded – a 37% increase on the 1,697 herds recorded in respect of the
previous year.
A total of 1,453 (38.6%) respondents declared they had no pigs in October 2014, and did not indicate
having kept pigs in the preceding 12 months. Therefore, in October 2014, the national pig herd
consisted of 1.54 million pigs (1,542,677), made up of 157,862 breeding pigs, 1,384,181 fattening
pigs and 634 Non-production pigs (See Tables 1 and 2).
The 2014 Census introduced a question relating to non-production pigs in an effort to enumerate
the number of pigs kept for purposes other than entering the food chain.
A significant and growing number of census returns were made electronically to the Department for
2014 and it is hoped that this will be expanded upon in future.
Based on the census returns, the average active pig herd in Ireland in October 2014 held 668 pigs,
which represents a reduction on previous years. This may be explained, however, by a higher census
response in 2014 from smaller herd keepers than was previously the case. The differences in the
sizes of active herds are significant, with over 1,150 (some 50%) recording 20 pigs or less. Only 40 of
all active herds (1.8%) kept over 10,000 pigs. These 40 herds, however, account for over 40% of the
total pig population.
96% of pigs were in herds of 1,000 and over, with a further 2.5% in herds of between 500 and 1,000.
Some 2,142 pigs, accounting for just 0.14% of the population, were recorded in 924 herds, with a
maximum of 5 pigs, representing 40% of total herd numbers.
Cavan recorded the largest pig population with some 286,598 pigs and 18.6% of the total. Cork
recorded 16.5% of the pig population, while Tipperary had 11.6%. Cork recorded the majority of
herds, accounting for 17% of the total number, while Tipperary and Wexford had the next highest
level with 7.7% and 6.1% respectively.
Analysis of the data returned in respect of the 2014 Census is detailed in the following Tables and
Maps which show the national distribution of pig numbers by herd and herd size across the country.
Table 1 – Total Recorded Pig Numbers in Ireland in 2013 and 2014
Total Pigs
2013
2014
Difference
Difference (%)
1,425,829
1,542,677
116,848
+8.2%
Fattening Pigs*
1,272,923
1,384,181
111,258
+8.7%
Breeding Pigs**
152,906
157,862
4,956
+3.2%
Non
Production
Pigs***
n/a
634
n/a
-
*
Fattening pigs includes boniffs, 1st and 2nd stage weaners and fattening pigs
** Breeding Pigs includes all sows, gilts and boars
*** Non production pigs are kept for purposes other than entering the food chain were not enumerated in
previous census returns
Table 2 – Number of Active Pig Herds and Number of Pigs by County
Carlow
Cavan
Clare
Cork
Donegal
Dublin
Galway
Kerry
Kildare
Kilkenny
Laois
Leitrim
Limerick
Longford
Louth
Mayo
Meath
Monaghan
Offaly
Roscommon
Sligo
Tipperary
Waterford
Westmeath
Wexford
Wicklow
Total
Number of
Active
Herds
49
125
59
393
95
30
96
75
98
93
83
29
73
37
14
95
95
41
52
69
37
178
67
73
142
115
Number of
Breeding
Pigs
2,914
32,787
1,482
24,661
2,780
34
506
3,134
4,345
5,214
5,521
666
4,427
7,283
2,176
2,234
4,318
4,124
6,482
2,150
939
16,188
8,689
8,596
5,613
599
Number of
Fattening
Pigs
44,111
253,799
11,724
229,642
36,952
145
4,508
30,642
26,803
41,367
45,304
5,984
41,994
65,728
8,578
20,837
35,818
26,436
64,594
18,446
8,180
163,032
74,838
70,331
45,307
9,081
2,313
157,862
1,384,181
Non
Production
Pigs
Total Pigs
13
12
17
55
16
10
38
11
61
18
25
8
14
8
1
24
28
6
12
23
6
38
11
27
128
24
47,038
286,598
13,223
254,358
39,748
189
5,052
33,787
31,209
46,599
50,850
6,658
46,435
73,019
10,755
23,095
40,164
30,566
71,088
20,619
9,125
179,258
83,538
78,954
51,048
9,704
634
1,542,677
Table 3 – Number of Active Pig Herds by County by Size
County
Carlow
Cavan
Clare
Cork
Donegal
Dublin
Galway
Kerry
Kildare
Kilkenny
Laois
Leitrim
Limerick
Longford
Louth
Mayo
Meath
Monaghan
Offaly
Roscommon
Sligo
Tipperary
Waterford
Westmeath
Wexford
Wicklow
Total
Number of Active Herds with:
Total Herds
≤5 pigs
6 - 100 pigs
49
31
8
125
44
13
59
48
7
393
263
64
95
51
18
30
21
9
96
85
9
75
55
11
98
75
13
93
62
17
83
60
12
29
18
5
73
57
7
37
23
3
14
11
1
95
78
8
95
66
16
41
16
9
52
29
11
69
57
9
37
33
2
178
134
14
67
41
11
73
51
8
142
96
23
115
91
20
2,313
1,596
328
>100 pigs
10
68
4
66
26
0
2
9
10
14
11
6
9
11
2
9
13
16
12
3
2
30
15
14
23
4
389
ANNUAL PIG CENSUS 2014
Table 4 –
Number and Percentage of Active Herds within certain Herd Sizes
Active Herds
Herd Size
(no. of Pigs)
0-5
6-20
21-50
51-100
101-500
501-1000
1001-3000
3001-10,000
>10,000
Total
2013
Number (of Percentage (%)
herds)
Of Total Herds
985
58.39
229
13.57
61
3.62
30
1.78
55
3.26
46
2.72
129
7.65
119
7.05
33
1.96
1,687
100
2014
Number (of Percentage(%)
herds)
of Total Herds
1,596
69.00
233
10.07
68
2.94
27
1.17
62
2.68
50
2.16
119
5.15
118
5.10
40
1.73
2,313
100
ANNUAL PIG CENSUS 2014
Table 5 – Number and Percentage of Pigs within certain Herd Sizes
Herd Size
(no. of Pigs)
0-5
6-20
21-50
51-100
101-500
501-1000
1001-3000
3001-10,000
>10,000
Total
2013
Number
Percentage(%)
(Pigs)
of Total Pigs
2,282
0.16
2,302
0.16
1,973
0.14
2,179
0.15
15,034
1.05
33,924
2.38
239,909
16.84
656,229
46.02
471,997
33.10
1,425,829
100
2014
Number of Percentage (%)
Pigs
of Total Pigs
2,142
0.14
2,376
0.15
2,188
0.14
1,933
0.13
16,962
1.1
37,262
2.42
220,187
14.27
640,985
41.55
618,642
40.10
1,542,677
100