Sweden: Fewer and fewer cattle and sheep

Fewer cattle, fewer farmers The total cattle population fell by 2.4 percent to 1.41 million in the twelve months ending in June 2024, the national agricultural authority Jordbruksverket reported on 15 October, with dairy cows down by 2.1 percent to 289,400. The cattle population is determined by the cattle register (CDB), which is why it is always recorded in full. The number of cattle farmers fell by 3.2 percent to 14,091, while the number of dairy farmers fell by 4.2 percent to just 2,562. The decline in sheep numbers was much greater than that in cattle numbers, down 6.5 percent to 454,540. The number of sheep farmers fell even more, down 6.8 percent. to 7763. More pigs A total of around 1.34 million pigs were raised in Sweden in the reporting month. This is 2.6 percent more than in June 2023. The number of sows increased disproportionately, by 4.4 percent, to around 116.1 thousand. The total number of pig farmers increased slightly, by 17 to 1177. However, especially in ...