Cattle population grows

The cattle population in December 2007 amounted to 19,442 heads, an increase of 1.1 per cent over the comparative period in 2006.

The NSO said 394 holdings were engaged in the cattle industry, of which 149 were oriented to the production of milk.

When compared to the same period last year, bovines less than 1 year old and those between 1 and 2 years registered a decrease of 1.2 percent and 2.7 percent respectively. On the other hand, dairy cows being the most important bovine with 38.8 percent of the total cattle stock, registered a slight increase by 0.7 percent, from 7,494 heads in 2006 to 7,545 heads in 2007.

Dairy farms remained the dominant farms with cattle. 88.3 percent or 17,159 cattle were situated on farms mainly focused on the production of milk.

Of all the cattle farms, 47.0 per cent have a herd size ranging from 3 to 29 cattle on the