France

Livestock Population

This graph shows that a decrease of milk cows is concomitant with the increase of suckler cows.

The numbers of other domestic herbivores have also varied. Three important movements should be emphasized:

  • Sheep: (dairy sheep and sheep for meat): in the majority of European countries their numbers have been decreasing, particularly numbers of sheep for meat.
  • Goats: poorly represented in Europe, they are notably present in France and Greece. They show a very high constancy in all areas. They are almost exclusively intended for milk production.
  • Equines: a category that almost disappeared at the end of 1970s, their main function being as draft animals. Today we observe an expansion of the equine herd in practically all European countries. The growth rate in France was over 10% per year over the past five years. They are now almost exclusively used for recreational or sports purposes. The peculiarity of this class of herbivores is that 25% of them are raised off the farm.

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