Official Statistics

UK Farm Animal Genetic Resources (FAnGR) breed inventory results 2022 statistics release

Updated 11 May 2023

The Farm Animal Genetic Resources inventory has received its annual updates based on data provided by the breed societies. This includes inventory data for 2022, estimated breeding female population figures for 2023 and in some cases revisions for earlier years.

The full dataset is very detailed and presented as a number of time series tables in a spreadsheet on the FAnGR Annual Statistics webpage. It presents both the data characteristics collected in the inventory and additional estimates of the populations for breeding females and the effective population for each breed.

This Statistics Notice provides a summary of the data on the estimated population of breeding females for cattle, sheep, pigs, and goats.

Key results

Key results table - Number of native breeds by change in female population between 2019 and 2023

Number of breeds	Cattle	Sheep	Pigs	Goats
Increase	11	20	1	2
No change	12	18	2	2
Decrease	7	10	8	0
Total breeds	30	48	11	4

Notes:

1. Increase or decrease is by more than 10% otherwise it is classed as no change.
2. Pig data compares figures for 2018 and 2022 as census data is available.
3. Only includes native breeds with data for both 2019 and 2023 (2018 and 2022 in the case of pig breeds).

The majority of native cattle and sheep breeds are increasing or showing no change in population between 2019 and 2023. As in previous years, the native pig breeds show an overall trend of falling populations while native goats are showing an overall increasing trend in population size.

Section 1 – UK Farm Animal Genetic Resources (FAnGR) Inventory

1.1 Background

The UK has one of the richest native Farm Animal Genetic Resources (FAnGR) populations in the world and the importance of FAnGR has been recognised at both international and UK levels. Because of this, a commitment was made under national and global biodiversity strategies to establish an annual inventory to show how breed populations are changing over time.

1.2 Data characteristics

Certain data characteristics are collected directly from the annual inventory. Further key population estimates can then be derived from these.

Characteristic	Type
Female registrations	Inventory
Male registrations	Inventory
Dams	Inventory
Sires	Inventory
Breeding herds	Inventory
Female breeding population	Population Estimate
Effective population	Population Estimate

Details of how the population estimates are calculated are provided in Section 6. Note that the female breeding population estimate is calculated using the 3-year average of the number of female registrations and as such, the 2023 estimate is calculated using inventory data for 2020, 2021 and 2022.

All data including inventory data, estimates and breed status are published separately from this Statistics Notice on the same collection page :- UK farm animal genetic resources (FAnGR): breed inventory results

The dataset provides a timeseries from 2000 to 2022/23 for cattle, sheep, pig, goat, horse and camelid breeds. A machine-readable dataset is also available at the same collection page.

1.3 Breed status

Breeds can have NBAR (Native breed at risk) or BAR (Breed at risk) status. This status is determined by the number of registered breeding females and breeds are included on the NBAR and BAR when their populations drop below specified thresholds. These thresholds are included in Section 6.

Section 2 – Key trends in breeding female population estimates

2.1 Introduction

This section focuses on the derived measure of the estimated breeding female population for native breeds. Details of how this is estimate is calculated, and a definition of native breeds can be found in Section 6. No horse data are available as no multipliers have been determined from which to estimate the breeding female population.

Table 2.1 shows the total number of breeds for each species broken down by breed status included in the inventory. The total number of native breeds in the inventory are higher than those found in the Section 2 due to missing data for a number of breeds.

Table 2.1 - Total number of breeds by breed status for each species

Number of breeds	Cattle	Sheep	Pigs	Goats
Total	53	87	16	14
of which Native	30	61	11	5
of which NBAR	23	48	11	5
of which BAR	15	29	11	5

2.1a Data presentation

The data presented in section 2.2 – 2.6 show the estimated female population sizes for the following target years: 2019 and 2023 for cattle, sheep and goats, and 2018 and 2022 for pigs. In sections 2.3 – 2.6, summary data tables present the estimated female populations sizes for native breeds of that species, showing the percentage change between target years. Where there are incomplete data in the target years, the breeds have been excluded from the analysis. The table notes detail the excluded native breeds. If data are supplied subsequent to this publication, published results will be updated as early as possible.

For each species the data are also presented in a bar chart displaying the percentage change in population between 2019 and 2023 for native breeds showing an increase or decrease of more than 10% (for more information on the methodology, please see Section 6). A threshold change of 10% within a 5-year timeframe was chosen to facilitate the early identification of breeds with declining populations as breeds of concern.

2.2 Key Trends - Summary of results for Cattle, Sheep, Pigs and Goats

Based on the estimated number of breeding females, the change in population size for native breeds between 2019 and 2023 is shown in table 2.2

Table 2.2 Change in estimated breeding female population between 2019 and 2023 by number of native breeds

Number of breeds	Cattle	Sheep	Pigs	Goats
Increase	11	20	1	2
No change	12	18	2	2
Decrease	7	10	8	0
Total breeds	30	48	11	4

Notes:

1. Increase or decrease is by more than 10% otherwise it is classed as no change
2. Pig data compares figures for 2018 and 2022 as census data is available
3. Only includes native breeds with data for both 2019 and 2023 (2018 and 2022 in the case of pig breeds)

The majority of native cattle and sheep breeds are increasing or showing no change in population between 2019 and 2023. As in previous years, the native pig breeds show an overall trend of falling populations while native goats are showing an overall increasing trend in population size. Annual trends in native farm animal populations should be understood in the context of changes in the general UK livestock populations. Please see the livestock population statistics collection page for data on livestock populations in England and UK.

2.3 Cattle Results

Table 2.3a Native cattle breeds and % change in estimated breeding female population (in descending order of change)

Published Breed Name	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	5 Year % Change
Vaynol	15	20	16	22	26	+73%
Whitebred Shorthorn	280	317	381	447	481	+72%
Northern Dairy Shorthorn	86	103	115	117	135	+57%
Luing	6286	6609	8044	8456	9293	+48%
Chillingham	22	23	23	27	29	+32%
Belted Galloway	3350	3533	4145	3985	3959	+18%
Galloway	2807	2924	3085	3137	3250	+16%
White Galloway	217	197	239	214	249	+15%
Beef Shorthorn	11196	11855	11760	12072	12657	+13%
Devon (Red Ruby Devon)	7577	7696	7669	8085	8555	+13%
British Friesian	11950	12155	11990	12807	13399	+12%
Lincoln Red	2601	2451	2439	2667	2847	+9%
Jersey	22935	22787	24864	25251	24827	+8%
Highland	2829	3064	3161	3001	3023	+7%
British White	1025	1072	1117	1124	1088	+6%
Irish Moiled	578	551	587	555	594	+3%
Shetland	730	683	676	651	712	-2%
Hereford	18696	18874	19327	19089	18201	-3%
Dairy Shorthorn	5702	5191	5104	5372	5477	-4%
White Park	781	747	744	724	740	-5%
Red Poll	2740	2783	2702	2666	2581	-6%
Aberdeen-Angus	34843	35775	37347	35545	32669	-6%
Guernsey	2757	2613	2682	2452	2570	-7%
Longhorn	4581	4529	4111	4111	4144	-10%
Sussex	3913	3548	3465	3378	3472	-11%
South Devon	11895	11445	10797	10067	9969	-16%
Dexter	6259	6011	5814	5509	5113	-18%
Gloucester	468	431	460	418	375	-20%
Ayrshire	21714	20347	18749	18062	17053	-21%
Welsh Black	5927	5504	4629	4226	3870	-35%

Chart and Table 2.3b Native cattle breeds with estimated breeding female populations increasing or decreasing by more than 10% between 2019 and 2023

Published Breed Name	% Change
Vaynol	73%
Whitebred Shorthorn	72%
Northern Dairy Shorthorn	57%
Luing	48%
Chillingham	32%
Belted Galloway	18%
Galloway	16%
White Galloway	15%
Beef Shorthorn	13%
Devon (Red Ruby Devon)	13%
British Friesian	12%
Longhorn	-10%
Sussex	-11%
South Devon	-16%
Dexter	-18%
Gloucester	-20%
Ayrshire	-21%
Welsh Black	-35%

2.4 Sheep Results

Table 2.4a Native sheep breeds and % change in estimated breeding female populations (in descending order of change)

Published Breed Name	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	5 Year % Change
Romney	617	657	789	1266	1551	+151%
Devon Closewool	1169	1219	1281	1700	1869	+60%
Ryeland (including Coloured Ryeland)	5442	5824	6498	7208	7574	+39%
White Face Dartmoor	2232	2167	2890	3037	3104	+39%
Border Leicester	1177	1399	1554	1602	1531	+30%
Derbyshire Gritstone	721	732	767	845	933	+29%
Poll Dorset	18731	17035	20272	20827	24155	+29%
Kerry Hill	4736	5275	5463	5891	5815	+23%
Leicester Longwool	573	595	660	703	699	+22%
Lincoln Longwool	535	553	561	631	647	+21%
Dorset Horn	1572	1361	1628	1609	1840	+17%
Manx Loaghtan	696	721	736	785	807	+16%
Boreray	451	460	504	523	522	+16%
Castlemilk Moorit	905	962	1032	1092	1041	+15%
Wensleydale	979	1017	1038	1056	1113	+14%
Suffolk Sheep	14331	14266	14201	15793	16282	+14%
Bluefaced Leicester	20258	20777	20822	20754	22947	+13%
Soay	888	896	905	1018	997	+12%
Hampshire Down	3918	3947	3948	4075	4379	+12%
Balwen	820	776	718	881	904	+10%
Llanwenog	1882	2029	2420	2470	2052	+9%
Norfolk Horn	1081	1020	1155	1162	1173	+9%
Badger Face Welsh (Torddu)	3876	3812	3887	4059	4158	+7%
Jacob	6019	6060	6398	6473	6411	+7%
Badger Face Welsh (Torwen)	1339	1245	1229	1325	1425	+6%
Portland	1098	1169	1178	1186	1151	+5%
Hebridean	4675	4524	4297	4414	4736	+1%
Epynt Hardy Speckled	3800	3662	3803	3788	3842	+1%
Teeswater	925	984	941	963	915	-1%
Clun Forest	2169	2179	2179	2154	2141	-1%
Oxford Down	1157	1093	1063	1111	1141	-1%
Southdown	4060	3872	4081	3979	4001	-1%
Greyface Dartmoor	2607	2833	3079	2440	2511	-4%
Dalesbred	8899	9087	8352	8369	8359	-6%
Shropshire	3705	3213	3172	3263	3432	-7%
North Ronaldsay / Orkney	533	500	476	496	491	-8%
Swaledale	165059	161211	158621	152989	150849	-9%
Cotswold	830	833	826	801	752	-9%
Dorset Down	1893	1855	1788	1812	1710	-10%
Exmoor Horn	7076	6684	6392	6096	5804	-18%
Lleyn	81551	75150	70080	67771	65116	-20%
Whitefaced Woodland	490	464	415	412	391	-20%
Lonk	2011	1697	1551	1477	1482	-26%
Cambridge	278	277		195	195	-30%
Wiltshire Horn	4614	4338	3410	3151	3000	-35%
Devon and Cornwall Longwool	858	854	553	549	546	-36%
Shetland Mainland	4950	4931	4354	3680	3120	-37%
Hill Radnor	1252	1380	1174	913	680	-46%

Notes

1. The following native breeds have been excluded from this analysis due to missing data in the target years: Beulah Speckled Face, Black Welsh Mountain, Brecknock Hill Cheviot, Herdwick, Llandovery Whiteface Hill, North Country Cheviot, Rough Fell, Scottish Blackface, Shetland Island, South Country Cheviot, South Wales Mountain (Nelson type), Welsh Hill Speckled Face, Welsh Mountain. However partial data for these breeds are still available in the inventory dataset. For context on missing data for extensively managed hill sheep breeds, please see Section 3.

Chart and Table 2.4a Native sheep breeds with estimated breeding female populations increasing or decreasing by more than 10% between 2019 and 2023

Published Breed Name	% Change
Romney	151%
Devon Closewool	60%
Ryeland (including Coloured Ryeland)	39%
White Face Dartmoor	39%
Border Leicester	30%
Derbyshire Gritstone	29%
Poll Dorset	29%
Kerry Hill	23%
Leicester Longwool	22%
Lincoln Longwool	21%
Dorset Horn	17%
Manx Loaghtan	16%
Boreray	16%
Castlemilk Moorit	15%
Wensleydale	14%
Suffolk Sheep	14%
Bluefaced Leicester	13%
Soay	12%
Hampshire Down	12%
Balwen	10%
Dorset Down	-10%
Exmoor Horn	-18%
Lleyn	-20%
Whitefaced Woodland	-20%
Lonk	-26%
Cambridge	-30%
Wiltshire Horn	-35%
Devon and Cornwall Longwool	-36%
Shetland Mainland	-37%
Hill Radnor	-46%

2.5 Pigs Results

Table 2.5a Native breeds of pig and % change in estimated breeding female populations (in descending order of change)

Published Breed Name	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	5 Year % Change
British Lop	302	290	313	340	338	+12%
Middle White	329	321	341	349	351	+7%
Large Black	322	316	319	354	307	-5%
Tamworth	303	295	240	239	270	-11%
Berkshire	354	305	331	363	310	-12%
Gloucestershire Old Spots	701	568	636	612	577	-18%
British Saddleback	451	378	409	414	368	-18%
Oxford Sandy and Black	506	451	498	473	395	-22%
Large White	428	399	291	289	255	-40%
Landrace	188	183	142	121	109	-42%
Welsh	590	588	457	435	323	-45%

Notes:

1. Pig data compares figures for 2018 and 2022 as census data are available

Chart and Table 2.5b Pig breeds with estimated breeding female populations increasing or decreasing by more than 10% between 2018 and 2022

Published Breed Name	% Change
British Saddleback	-11%
Berkshire	-12%
Oxford Sandy and Black	-14%
Gloucestershire Old Spots	-20%
Welsh	-28%
Large White	-31%
Landrace	-33%
Tamworth	-44%

2.6 Goats Results

There were no goat breeds that decreased by more than 10% between 2019 and 2023.

Table 2.6a Native breeds of goat and % change in estimated breeding female populations (in descending order of change)

Published Breed Name	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	5 Year % Change
Toggenburg	222	234	225	267	342	+54%
Golden Guernsey	1381	1520	1696	1882	1921	+39%
Bagot	528	552	542	566	564	+7%
Saanen	243	251	244	234	248	+2%

Notes

1. The following native breed has been excluded from this analysis due to missing data in the target years: Old English Goats. However partial data for this breed are still available in the inventory dataset.

Chart 2.6b Goat breeds with estimated breeding female populations increasing by more than 10% between 2019 and 2023

Published Breed Name	% Change
Toggenburg	54%
Golden Guernsey	39%

Section 3 – Notes relating to specific species and breeds

These breed notes provide specific context for data in the inventory tables and Section 2 of this statistics notice.

Species/ Breed	Notes
Cattle
Merged Breeds	A decision has been made by Defra to merge original populations with their commercial populations for inventory recording. This decision was made to mitigate circumstances in which the original populations were recorded twice, in their own figures, and in the figures provided by commercial populations, which would give an inaccurate view of true numbers.
Aberdeen Angus	This includes Aberdeen Angus and Aberdeen Angus (original population).
British Friesian	This includes British Friesian and British Friesian (original population).
Dairy Shorthorn	Excludes Northern Dairy Shorthorns as these are reported separately. Includes the Dairy Shorthorn (original population).
Hereford	This includes Hereford Traditional/Original.
Sheep
Badger Face Welsh	From 2020 this breed is recognised as two separately recorded registered breeds: Torddu Badger Face and Torwen Badger Face.
Composite Breeds	Since 2021 we have included several composite sheep breeds in the inventory (namely the Aberblack, Aberdale, Aberfield, Abermax, Abertek, Highlander and Primera in addition to the previously recorded British Milksheep, Cambridge and Exlana). Sheep populations are dynamic, with new composite breeds of sheep being developed from existing genetic resources all the time to create maternal and terminal sire composite breeding lines.
Hill breeds with incomplete data	The following extensively managed sheep breeds are recognised as important genetic resources. However at present we have no means of recording actual numbers as extensive management systems make pedigree recording difficult.
Beulah Speckled Face	Incomplete data since 2017.
Black Welsh Mountain	Incomplete data.
Brecknock Hill Cheviot	No data available.
Herdwick	Male registration data and number of active flocks data available. Females not individually registered.
North Country Cheviot	Male registration data available. Females not individually registered.
Rough Fell	Male registration data and number of active flocks data available. Females not individually registered
Scottish Blackface	No data available.
Shetland Island	No data available since 2014.
South Country Cheviot	Male registration data and number of active flocks data available. Females not individually registered.
South Wales Mountain (Nelson type)	No data available.
Swaledale	Male registration data available. Female population data is census data.
Welsh Hill Speckled Face	Number of active flocks data available. Females not individually registered.
Pigs
Commercial Breeds	The UK’s commercial breeding base of some 500K sows is supported by breeding companies operating closed breeding programmes licenced by Defra. These companies represent 85% of the genetic resources for pig production in the UK. They are also linked into international breeding programmes and are a source of genetics for breeding programmes around the world. For reasons of commercial confidentiality, details of their populations are not published however information on their breeding lines and programmes can be found on the UKGLE website: Recognised breeding operations for hybrid pigs
Goats
Cheviot (Feral)	The data received for Cheviot goats has not been published due to new methodology. The FAnGR committee will be reviewing the data and when a decision has been made a revision of the inventory including the Cheviot goats will be published.
Yorkshire Dairy Goats	The number of female registrations relates to the number of females that have been born and added to the herd register.
Horses
Caspian	Data is incomplete. Work is being done to improve coverage in future to give a truer picture of the breed statistics.
Irish Draught	Only UK born, pure-bred pedigree registration types have been included (i.e. at least 3 or 4 generations of pure-bred pedigree). No grading up or cross-bred animals are included in these figures.

Section 4 – Inventory Annex

Breeds for which there is a lack of data provision for the last 3 years or more are removed from the main inventory results and instead presented here in a separate annex. If they are able to provide data again, the breed can be reinstated in the main inventory and we would like to encourage breed societies to contact the FAnGR secretariat (fangr@defra.gov.uk) if there is anything we can do to help them provide this information.

Table 4.1 Inventory Annex

Species	Breeds
Cattle	Aubrac
	Fleckvieh
	Normande
	Swedish Red and White
	Wagyu
	Water Buffalo
Sheep	Easy Care
	Ile De France
	Meatlinc
	Roussin
	Vendeen / British Vendeen
Goats	Arapawa / British Arapawa
	Cashmere
	Pygmy
Horses	American Miniature Horse
	American Quarter Horse
	Camargue / British Camargue
	Fjord Horse
	Friesian Horse
	Lipizzaner
	Scottish Sports Horse
	Sport Pony
Camelid	Camels
	Guanacos

Section 5 – About these statistics

5.1 Background

The UK has one of the richest native Farm Animal Genetic Resources (FAnGR) populations in the world and the importance of FAnGR has been recognised at both international and UK levels.

Because of this, a commitment was made under national and global biodiversity strategies to establish an annual inventory to show how breed populations are changing over time. The inventory was set up by Defra in 2013 to deliver that commitment and the inventory is steadily increasing in scope and coverage each year as it becomes established. Once the trends become apparent from the inventory, it enables decisions to be made to safeguard UK livestock biodiversity and to help future-proof UK farming.

The results build on the findings from the 2012 “UK Country Report on Farm Animal Genetic Resources (FAnGR)” and are a collaborative effort between the national UK Genetics for Livestock and Equines Committee (UKGLE), Defra and the Devolved Administrations, who work together to support the conservation and sustainable use of UK FAnGR. The inventory complements the committee’s other monitoring efforts and the work of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust on conservation and protection of UK rare and native breeds of farm animals.

5.2 Data Sources

All the annual data is reported through either Grassroots Systems Ltd., the British Pig Association or the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Coverage has been steadily increasing since the annual inventory was first developed in 2013. The response rate for the 2022 inventory was 92% (208 breeds). Breed societies have given their permission for these companies to supply the data every year for this exercise. Any breed-specific exceptions to this coverage are detailed in the ‘Definitions & Breed notes’ section.

The pig data on numbers of pedigree breeding sows (with the exception of the British Lop and KuneKune) are sourced from the Bloodline Census, an annual exercise carried out by the British Pig Association (results are available on the British Pigs website). This Census also collects data on the number of members keeping registered pigs.

Data for all other breeds are collected annually via a survey. Questionnaires are emailed and non-respondents are contacted several times to encourage response. Priority is given to gathering comprehensive data from native breeds. It is made clear to participating breed societies in advance that all data supplied will be published (as it is all collected at the aggregate level). Therefore, there are no confidentiality issues around the data. Some breed societies already publish this information in their flock/ herd books.

5.3 Data characteristics

The following data characteristics are collected from the inventory for all species:-

Characteristic	Definition
Female registrations	Only includes fully pure-bred, pedigree registered, UK born animals which were registered (not born) in the year.
Male registrations	Only includes fully pure-bred, pedigree registered, UK born animals which were registered (not born) in the year.
Dams	Pedigree dams of fully registered animals in the year. Excludes dams which had offspring which were not registered.
Sires	Pedigree sires of fully registered animals in the year. Excludes sires which had offspring which were not registered.
Breeding Herds	Number of active pedigree herds/flocks which registered pedigree offspring in the specific year.

The following data characteristics are calculated using the inventory data.

Breeding female population

Species	Breeds	Multiplier
Cattle	All	3.52
Sheep	All	2.41
Goats	All	5.16
Pigs	KuneKune & British Lop	2.7

A key data characteristic is the size of the pedigree breeding female population. The actual number of these animals is not always directly available from breed societies as the databases are not always up to date. Therefore, estimates are made of this key measure by multiplying the average number of pedigree female registrations over the previous three complete years by multipliers defined for each species (see Table above). The multiplier is calculated using historic data on the ratio of the number of adult females in a breed to the number of female registrations in a year.

Effective population The effective population size (Ne) for each breed in the inventory is calculated using Sewell Wright’s formula:

Effective population = 4 x (No. sires x No. dams)/ (No. sires + No. dams)

The effective population size indicates the genetic diversity within the breed, by accounting for the total number of animals in a population and the relative numbers of male and female parents (sires and dams). A low effective population size signifies a greater likelihood of inbreeding and a higher risk of loss of genetic diversity. An effective population of 50 is set as a threshold for concern by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. For further details see the JNCC bio-diversity indicator Technical background document.

5.4 Breed Status

Native Breeds

For a breed to be considered native, the breed should satisfy all of the following criteria.

• The breed satisfies the criteria for inclusion in the UK National Breed Inventory.
• Breed history documents the breed origin within the UK (including from an amalgamation of native breeds) and the UK has formed the primary environment for the development of the breed.
• Breed history documents its presence in the UK in its current adapted form for 40 years and 6 generations.
• Not more than 20% of the genetic contributions come from animals born outside the UK (other than those imported for an approved conservation project) in any one generation for the last 40 years plus 6 generations.

NBAR and BAR Breeds

Breeds can also have NBAR (Native breed at risk) or BAR (Breed at risk) status. This status is determined by the number of registered breeding females and breeds are included on the NBAR and BAR when their populations drop below specified thresholds. The thresholds for each species are as follows:

NBAR

Species	Thresholds
Cattle	< 7500
Equines	< 5000
Goats	< 10000
Pigs	< 15000
Sheep	< 10000
Poultry	<25000

BAR

Species	Thresholds
Cattle	<3000
Equines	< 3000
Goats	< 3000
Pigs	< 1500
Sheep	< 3000
Poultry	< 1000

Further information can be found on the FAnGR collection page FAnGR resources for farmers and livestock breeders - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

5.5 Quality Assurance

For Quality Assurance reasons, results are shared in advance of publication to members of the UKGLE committee.

5.6 Revisions

If any revisions are required to past data we will update the published results as early as possible and provide information about these revisions in the dataset.

5.7 Data Uses

1. Enhance knowledge of population size and prevent the loss of breeds
2. Support strategic planning for the sustainable utilisation of animal genetic resources
3. Improve priority setting for conservation programmes
4. Enhance knowledge of cross-border genetic linkages
5. Raise public awareness
6. Reporting obligations:

• 2011 England Biodiversity Strategy.
• UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) “Global Plan of Action”
• UN Convention on Biological Diversity “Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020” and the Aichi biodiversity goals and targets. The UK biodiversity indicators are used to report on progress towards meeting these goals: Animal genetic resources - effective population size of Native Breeds at Risk
• Input to the European Farm Animal Biodiversity Information System (EFABIS) and FAO Global Information System (DAD-IS) to monitor Farm Animal Biodiversity across Europe and globally. The FAO data links all countries into the FAO Global Strategy for the Management of Farm Animal Genetic Resources.

Further resources:

• Livestock Population Statistics
• British Pig Association
• Full results from the Breed Inventory
• 2012 UK Country report
• UKGLE policy information
• Research report into predicting the number of breeding females based on registration data
• UK biodiversity indicator – animal genetic resources: effective population size of native breeds at risk

What you need to know about this release

Contact details

Responsible statistician: Alexandra Hall, Foss House, Kings Pool, 1-2 Peasholme Green, York, YO1 7PX.

Tel: +44 (0)207 714 1374

Email: alexandra.hall@defra.gov.uk

An Official Statistics publication

These statistics are produced to the high professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, which sets out eight principles including meeting user needs, impartiality and objectivity, integrity, sound methods and assured quality, frankness and accessibility. See the Statistics Authority for further details on Official Statistics.

For general enquiries about National and Official Statistics, contact the National Statistics Public Enquiry Service:

Tel: 0845 601 3034

Email: info@statistics.gov.uk

You can find more information about National and Official Statistics on the GOV.UK website.

Feedback

As part of our ongoing commitment to compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, we wish to strengthen our engagement with users of these statistics and better understand the use made of them and the types of decisions that they inform. Consequently, we invite users to make themselves known, to advise us of the use they do, or might, make of these statistics, and what their wishes are in terms of engagement. Feedback on this notice and enquiries about these statistics are also welcome. Please send any feedback to: ukglesecretariat@defra.gov.uk or alternatively please complete this short survey.

Acknowledgements

The UKGLE committee would like to thank all those breed societies already taking part and to Grassroots Systems Ltd., the Rare Breeds Survival Trust and the British Pig Association for their high level of support and input into this project. The livestock statistics team would also be happy to hear your feedback on this publication and how it can be improved for future years. The next scheduled release is due to be published in the Spring of 2024 which will include data for 2023.