In 2026, the European Union is expected to see an overall decrease in livestock production, with the most significant reduction in sheep and goat production, while pig production, on the contrary, is expected to grow, writes The Dairy Site, citing Eurostat data. Experts predict that the production of cattle in the second half of 2026 will decrease by 4.2% year-on-year and amount to 11.4 million head. It is expected that 23.1% of this volume will fall on France, the largest cattle producer in the European Union, with a slight decrease in production in this country (-0.4% to 2.63 million head). Germany is also expected to see a moderate decrease in production (-0.6% to 1.7 million head), while Ireland will face a more severe drop—minus 5.2% to 0.9 million head. Spain will be the only major cattle producer where production is expected to grow by 2.7% to 1.1 million head. As for small ruminants, the situation is much sadder. Sheep production is forecast to decrease by 17.8% to 12.2 ...