Ireland: Over 38,500 sheep and goat census forms returned

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has confirmed that over 38,500 sheep and goat census forms have been returned by farmers. A DAFM spokesperson told Agriland that of the 37,678 sheep returns received by last Wednesday (February 15), 15,370 were made online and 22,308 returns were sent by post. Of the 869 goat returns received, the department said that 552 were returned online, with 317 made on paper. In December, the department issued sheep and goat census forms to 48,000 farmers. Similar to previous years, the department selected December 31 as the 2022 census date. Advertisement A deadline of January 31 applied for farmers opting to return their census forms by post, while an extended deadline of February 14 applied to online returns only. DAFM According to the department, 38,547 sheep and goat census returns were made by farmers by February 15. Donegal had the highest number of sheep returns at 6,370, followed by Mayo with 5,158 and Galway on 4,409. ...