Fewer cattle in Austria's stables

As of December 1, 2022, 1.86 million cattle were kept across Austria, around half a percent less than a year ago. The stocks diverged significantly depending on the age group. For example, the number of calves for slaughter fell by more than 70% to 44,000, while the number of dairy cows increased by 4.6% to 550,600. Due to methodological adjustments, however, the figures for this animal category are only of limited significance this year, according to the statisticians. The fact is, however, that the number of cattle farmers decreased again. As of the reporting date, 2.2% had given up again. The remaining 52,500 farms kept an average of 35 cattle. A much more pronounced minus was shown by the Austrian pig population, which fell by almost 5%. With 2.65 million pigs, the local pig herd shrank more slowly than in other EU countries, but showed a worrying trend in the ...