Number of beef and dairy breeding herd cattle each increase by 0.1% in 2026

In 2026, the beef breeding herd (cattle aged 2 years and over with offspring) was 373,500, a 0.1% increase (or +500 head) on the previous year and a 5.4% decrease when compared with the five-year average.

Over the past decade, the number of breeding beef cows has decreased by 14% from 436,600 in 2016. Over the same period, the dairy breeding herd increased by 4.1% to 182,300. This was 2.8% above the five-year average and 0.1% higher (or +100 head) than in 2025.

Figure 8: Number of beef and dairy breeding herd cows, 2016 to 2026.

The number of female beef cattle aged 1 to 2 years increased by 4,100 head (2.2% increase on last year) with the equivalent dairy category decreasing by 200 head (0.4% decrease). Male cattle aged 1 to 2 years increased by 4,400 head (+2.4%) and male cattle under 1 year increased by 2,000 head (+0.9%).

Average breeding herd size continues to increase

In 2026, the average herd size for female dairy cattle aged 2+ with offspring (dairy breeding herd) was 132.6 cattle per holding, an increase of 38% when compared with 2016. Over the same period, the number of holdings with dairy breeding herd has decreased from 1,822 holdings to 1,375 holdings, with an increase in the number of holdings with cattle herd size of 200 or more cattle.

The beef breeding herd has increased from 47.7 cattle per holding in 2016 to 49.1 cattle per holding in 2026. The number of holdings with beef breeding herd over the same period has decreased by 17% from 9,154 holdings to 7,607 holdings.