Half of grazing livestock in Cork farmed under derogation

Almost half of all grazing livestock units in Cork were farmed under a derogation in 2021 by the county’s 2,132 derogation farmers.

This represents less than 15% of the county’s livestock farmers, according to the Department of Agriculture’s most recent derogation breakdown at county-level.

Some 46% of Waterford’s livestock were farmed on derogation holdings in 2021, as were 42% in Kilkenny, 36% in Tipperary and 35% in Wexford.

Total grazing population

Livestock in derogation represent just under a quarter of the total grazing populations of counties Kerry, Limerick, Monaghan, Carlow and Wicklow.

More than one in every six livestock units in Donegal are farmed under derogation – this is the highest of any county west of the Shannon and higher than counties like Cavan or Westmeath.

These 18% of Donegal’s livestock units in derogation systems are kept by only 94 farmers – less than 1% of the total farmers in the county.

Leitrim is the county with the lowest proportion of its grazing stock in derogation at less than 1% of the county’s livestock.

The equivalent figure for Mayo, Sligo and Roscommon is 4% of grazing livestock units.