Ireland’s dairy herd has grown to more than 1.5m cows for the first time since records began, according to a report by the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF).

Figures show that herd numbers are up by over 1.6% from 1,496,232 in 2018 to 1,520,890 as of 1 July 2019.

The county with the most dairy cows is Cork, with 380,772 cows. This makes up 25% of the national herd.

It is also 200,000 cows higher than the second-most populated county Tipperary, which has a herd figure of 173,905.

Limerick has the next largest herd with 119,361 and Kerry has the fourth-largest herd in the country with 104,805 dairy cows.

The smallest dairy herd by county in Ireland is in Leitrim, with 2,640 cows. This figure is down marginally from 2,667 in 2016.

Dublin has the second-smallest herd with 2,738 dairy cows in the county.