Milk production decreased in a year
According to the preliminary data of Statistics Estonia, the production of milk amounted to 773,800 tonnes in 2015, which is 4% less than the year before. The number of dairy cows decreased by the end of the year, while milk yield per cow increased.
In the recent years, the production of milk has been increasing every year compared to the previous year, but in 2015 it fell to the level of 2013.
On 31 December 2015, the number of cattle in Estonia was 256,200, of which 90,500 were dairy cows. Compared to the same time of the previous year, the number of cattle has decreased by 3%, but the number of dairy cows has decreased by 5%. The number of dairy cows has been in decline during the last twenty years with some small increases in between. At the same time, the average milk yield per cow has continually increased. In 2015, the average milk yield per cow was 8,337 kilograms, i.e. 104 kilograms more than in 2014.
At the end of the year, there were 307,100 pigs and 88,000 sheep and goats in Estonia.
The number of pigs decreased by 14%, and the number of sheep and goats decreased by 2% compared to the previous year. At the end of the year, there were 2.1 million poultry, which is 10% less than at the end of 2014.
In 2015, the production of eggs amounted to 198.7 million, remaining on the same level as the year before. 120,900 tonnes (live weight) of livestock and poultry were sold for slaughter (incl. export) and slaughtered in holdings; the production of meat (live weight) increased by 2% compared to the previous year. The production of pork, poultry, mutton and goat meat increased, while the production of beef decreased.