202300360540 · FOI/EIR · partially withheld
Average stock numbers of cattle and sheep for 2018, 2019 and 2022: EIR release
Information requested
You asked for “Average stock numbers of cattle and sheep for 2018, 2019 and 2022 broken down by local rural payments office”.
As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.
This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.
Response
I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested in the two tables below. The data are all sourced from the June Agricultural Census. We have provided 2021 figures in the place of 2022 figures, as the Census did not take place in 2022, due to the ongoing transformation of our statistics. For more information on the Census, including our methodology, please visit Scottish Agricultural Census: results - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). December 2022 figures for sheep and cattle can be found here: Annual Sheep and Goat Inventory and Cattle Results: December 2022 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). If you would like a further breakdown of these figures, please email us at agric.stats@gov.scot.
Cattle stocks by area office for 2018, 2019 and 2021
Cattle stocks 2018 2019 2021 Area office Number of holdings Total cattle Average cattle per holding Number of holdings Total cattle Average cattle per holding Number of holdings Total cattle Average cattle per holding Inverurie 1,804 291,375 162 1,752 281,579 161 1,661 285,496 172 Perth 1,446 217,726 151 1,406 215,148 153 1,358 208,451 154 Oban 633 50,321 80 612 50,677 83 607 50,701 84 Ayr 1,549 353,631 228 1,529 348,677 228 1,468 347,419 237 Elgin 329 50,396 153 319 47,982 150 316 46,708 148 Galashiels 907 186,142 205 909 187,778 207 883 186,975 212 Thurso 447 44,187 99 430 43,653 102 426 44,399 104 Dumfries 1,149 294,237 256 1,109 289,644 261 1,078 289,685 269 Hamilton 656 105,666 161 642 102,648 160 615 101,710 165 Inverness 827 60,292 73 796 58,789 74 778 58,393 75 Benebecula 253 4,422 17 243 4,298 18 237 4,212 18 Stornoway 152 1,731 11 147 1,585 11 146 1,728 12 Portree 242 6,322 26 239 6,335 27 237 6,499 27 Kirkwall 502 77,633 155 499 77,687 156 483 77,071 160 Golspie 192 6,764 35 188 6,718 36 181 7,138 39 Lerwick 159 4,473 28 155 4,529 29 151 4,792 32 All 11,247 1,755,318 156 10,975 1,727,727 157 10,625 1,721,377 162
Data from Cattle Tracing Scheme as part of the June Agricultural Census 2018, 2019 and 2021.
Sheep stocks by area office for 2018, 2019 and 2021
Sheep stocks 2018 2019 2021 Area office Number of holdings Total sheep Average sheep per holding Number of holdings Total sheep Average sheep per holding Number of holdings Total sheep Average sheep per holding Inverurie 1,496 513,226 343 1,515 519,176 343 1,584 549,920 347 Perth 1,474 1,030,777 699 1,496 1,034,527 692 1,555 1,063,394 684 Oban 865 381,519 441 876 388,117 443 908 402,768 444 Ayr 1,180 668,631 567 1,181 692,333 586 1,200 716,969 597 Elgin 301 171,321 569 302 163,926 543 315 165,277 525 Galashiels 1,252 1,292,259 1,032 1,274 1,341,914 1,053 1,295 1,353,343 1,045 Thurso 699 208,891 299 704 203,571 289 703 216,158 307 Dumfries 1,077 822,145 763 1,089 821,922 755 1,111 828,437 746 Hamilton 608 350,759 577 611 357,680 585 628 363,164 578 Inverness 1,229 385,247 313 1,231 380,373 309 1,262 382,190 303 Benebecula 710 47,943 68 714 47,300 66 713 48,432 68 Stornoway 1,502 95,106 63 1,497 93,731 63 1,494 94,815 63 Portree 569 116,036 204 586 115,259 197 595 112,534 189 Kirkwall 522 116,344 223 523 118,764 227 537 130,134 242 Golspie 435 112,152 258 442 111,663 253 458 114,604 250 Lerwick 1,122 274,043 244 1,125 278,844 248 1,125 289,566 257 All 15,041 6,586,399 438 15,166 6,669,100 440 15,483 6,831,705 441
Data from June Agricultural Census 2018, 2019 and 2021.
About FOI
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Contact Please quote the FOI reference Central Enquiry Unit Email: ceu@gov.scot Phone: 0300 244 4000 The Scottish Government St Andrews House Regent Road Edinburgh EH1 3DG
Detected exemption language
We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA. This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes.
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