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Figures produced by UCD’s professor Michael Wallace have outlined the total contribution of the suckler industry to the counties most reliant on the industry, such as Westmeath.
The suckler industry, although in decline, is still contributing €1.4bn in beef output annually and providing 30,000 jobs directly to the economy.
According to the professor, if current issues in the sector are not solved, one in every five of Ireland’s suckler farms and 142,000 suckler cows could be lost from the industry by 2028.
Westmeath
Westmeath had 34,000 suckler cows in 2017, a fall of 9% since 2010. Suckler cows made up 60% of the cows in the county.
The number of suckler farms in the county stood at 1,700, a drop of 12% since 2010.
A feature of Westmeath farms was the movement of weanlings into the county for finishing.
The value of the beef output in 2017, excluding direct payments came to €65m.
Prof Wallace estimated that when the indirect (feed, vets, inputs, hauliers, contractors, etc) contributions were tallied, the suckler herd in Clare was worth €135m in output and €90m to the GDP
In employment, he attributed the equivalent of 2,300 full-time jobs to the suckler herd.
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