The Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) has released a county-by-county breakdown of the beef cow population figures to determine which counties are the most heavily populated.

The ICBF compiled the figures as of last June, noting the beef cow distribution across the country.

This follows on from the federation’s breakdown of dairy cows last week. In total, it was found that the number of beef cows in Ireland in June, 2017 was 1,007,809 cows.

The criteria used to define a “beef cow” are: Cows with at least one lactation, which are by a beef sire, as of June 30, 2017.

From the results, it transpired that Co. Galway has the highest cow population by a significant margin with a total of 103,449 beef cows – substantially more than its nearest competitor.

This figure is over 25,000 higher than the beef cow population in Co. Mayo which is the second most highly populated county with a figure of 77,397.

The third most highly populated county for beef cows is Co. Clare with a figure of 72,335 beef cows. Clare is followed closely by county Cork which has a figure of 70,001 beef cows.


Meanwhile, on the other end of the scale, the least populated county for beef cows is rather unsurprisingly Co. Dublin with a population of just 4,087 beef cows.

The second least populated county is Co. Louth with a population of 10,343 beef cows.

Wrapping up the bottom three for beef cow populations is Co. Carlow with a figure of 16,339 beef cows.

The ICBF also included a breakdown of the beef cow population for 2016. It was found that the number of beef cows has dropped well in most counties, with just five counties seeing an increase – often marginal.

The counties which saw an increase were: Kerry; Dublin; Meath; Cavan; and Monaghan.

The total number of beef cows in Ireland in June 2016 came to 1,018,219 – substantially more than those present just a year later, to the tune of 10,410.