Milk production increased last year
According to preliminary data of Statistics Estonia, the production of milk amounted to 694,800 tons in 2011, which is 3% more than in a year before. The number of dairy cows did not change significantly compared to the previous year, but milk production per cow kept increasing.
On 31 December 2011, the number of cattle in Estonia amounted to 239,400, of which 95,500 were dairy cows. Compared to the previous year, the number of cattle has increased by 1%, but the number of dairy cows has decreased by 1%. The number of dairy cows has been smaller than 100,000 since 2009, but the average milk production per cow has increased every year during the last ten years. In 2011, the average milk production per cow was 7,136 kilograms, i.e. 115 kilograms more than in 2010.
At the end of the year, there were 362,200 pigs and 91,400 sheep and goats in Estonia. The number of pigs decreased by 3% and the number of sheep and goats increased by 11% during the year.
In 2011, the agricultural producers of Estonia produced 185.4 million eggs, which is 2% more than a year before. 116,300 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) increased by 4% compared to the previous year. At the same time the production of beef decreased and the production of pork, poultry meat and mutton and goat meat increased.
Milk production per cow, 1994–2011
