Milk production increased for the third year in succession

After a small decrease in 2009, the production of milk has increased during the last three years compared to the previous year.

On 31 December 2012, the number of cattle in Estonia amounted to 249,000, of which 96,200 were dairy cows. Compared to the same period of the previous year, the number of cattle has increased by 4%, but the number of dairy cows has not changed. The number of dairy cows has decreased evenly during the last decade, but has stabilized during the recent years. At the same time the average milk production per cow has increased continually. In 2012, the average milk production per cow was 7,377 kilograms, i.e. 209 kilograms more than in 2011.

At the end of the year, there were 377,200 pigs and 90,200 sheep and goats in Estonia. The number of pigs increased by 3% and the number of sheep and goats increased by 2% during the year.

In 2012, 174.8 million eggs were produced, which is 5% less than a year earlier. 113,200 tons (live weight) of livestock and poultry were slaughtered in holdings or sold for slaughter to meat processing enterprises, the production of meat (live weight) decreased by 4% compared to the previous year. At the same time the production of beef, pork and poultry meat decreased, but the production of mutton and goat meat increased.

Milk production per cow, 1994–2012