NORTHERN IRELAND UPDATE Unfortunately, the Department of the Environment, Agriculture and Rural Affairs (DEARA) of Northern Ireland was not due to publish its estimate of feed production in Northern Ireland until 3 March, shortly after this edition of Feed Compounder was sent to the printer, so only data regarding production of compounds, blends and concentrates during the first eleven months of 2016 can be summarised here. During the period under review, feed manufacturers in Northern
Ireland produced a shade over 2 million tonnes, 48,800 tonnes or 2.4 per cent less than in the same period of 2015. To set the 2016 figure in context, particularly in the light of a prophesy made in the present author’s hearing many years ago, that the centre of the UK feed industry’s gravity was drifting slowly westwards, the 2 million tonne barrier was first breached in 2013, since when production during the period under review has tended to decline although remaining above 2 million tonnes. Cattle feed during the eleven months, at just over a million tonnes,
constituted 50.3 per cent of total production, compared to 50.8 per cent in the same period of 2015. Production was down by 35,700 tonnes or 3.4 per cent compared with the first eleven months of 2015. It is worth noting that production of feeds for cattle and calves in 2016 was 13.9 per cent less than the record total for the period under review in 2013. The latter year was characterised by two critical months when temperatures were well below normal, in both April and November when Northern Ireland saw average temperatures fall 1.3 °C below normal, as defined by the average of temperatures for the years 1981 – 2010. It seems likely that these low temperatures had a material effect upon feed requirements, notably in April 2013 when production of cattle and calf feeds during the month in question was what still stands as a record level. By far the most significant contributor to the drop in cattle and calf tonnage during the period under review was the production of
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coarse mixes and blends for the dairy sector. At 184,100 tonnes, these were down by 32,400 tonnes or 15 per cent. There was also a fall in production of compounds for dairy cows, at 440,800 tonnes, down by 6,300 tonnes or 1.4 per cent compared with the corresponding period of 2015 and at their lowest level for five years. There were small declines in production of calf feeds and in compounds for beef cattle. So far, 2016 appears to have been characterised by falling demand
for dairy feeds, principally coarse mixes and blends plus a relatively small volume of dairy compounds. Feeds for pigs are a relatively small part of the Northern Irish product
mix. During the period under review, production amounted to 187,100 tonnes, 7,400 tonnes or 4.1 per cent more than in the corresponding period of 2015. The increase would appear to be attributable in part to increased herd numbers; according to the June 2016 Census, there was a population of 601,100 pigs in the province, 31,400 or 5.5 per cent more than in 2015 and the highest number for 15 years. In proportionate terms the greatest increase in feed output was in
finishing feeds, at 79,600 tonnes up by 7,100 tonnes or 9.8 per cent. There were also increases in feeds for young animals although production of feeds for growing animals, at 37,300 tonnes, was down on the equivalent period a year earlier by 1,400 tonnes or 3.7 per cent. There was also a small decline in the volume of feeds for breeding animals. During the period under review feed manufacturers in Northern
Ireland produced 681,000 tonnes of feeds for poultry, comprising 34 per cent of total output. This total was 22,100 tonnes or 3.1 per cent less than in the corresponding period of 2015. The major contributor to the reduced poultry feed tonnage was a
35,600 tonne or 8.7 per cent decline in output of broiler feeds. The June 2016 agricultural census shows broiler numbers in Northern Ireland at 11,418,300, compared to 11,543, 500 in June 2014; falling numbers may thus account for part of the decline in broiler feed output. There was a very small decline in output of layer and breeding feeds; this would appear largely to be the result of a fall in laying flock numbers, although the breeding flock increased. Output of feeds for turkeys and other poultry feed, on the other hand, rose by 11,500 tonnes or 22.6 per cent; there is no obvious explanation for this in the census data. There was a small increase in the numbers of sheep and lambs, at
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60,300, up by 2,100 tonnes or 3.5 per cent; feeds for sheep and lambs constituted 3 per cent of total output during the period under review compared with 2.8 per cent during the corresponding period of 2015. The contributors to the increased output of feeds for sheep and lambs were compounds for both finishing and breeding animals, the former
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