Speaking at a meeting between sheep farmers and processors on Monday, Declan Fennell of Bord Bia said that the preliminary results of the 2015 sheep census indicate an increase of 3% in the ewe flock.

In all, there were 176,000 extra sheep at the end of last year, a 5% increase on 2014. There are 3,760,425 sheep in Ireland among 35,254 flocks, an average of 107 sheep per flock.

The total flock of included 2,501,000 ewes (up 81,000), 85,000 rams (up 500), and 1,172,000 other sheep (up 91,000).

The “other sheep” category includes lambs and hoggets targeted for breeding.

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