The number of cows in Ukraine continues to decrease, and the largest decrease is in households

As of August 1, 2024, there were 2.3638 million cattle in the domestic and industrial sector of Ukraine, of which 1.2554 million were cows, the Association of Milk Producers reports with reference to data from the Ministry of Agriculture.

For comparison, according to the State Statistics Service, in 1990, 25.2 million cattle were kept in Ukraine, including 8.5 million cows.

During August 2024, the cattle population decreased by 0.6% or 13.3 thousand heads (-7% or 175 thousand heads for the year), in particular cows – by 0.37% or 4.6 thousand heads (-7% or 87.4 thousand heads).

39% of animals are kept at industrial enterprises, and the remaining 61% are kept at households.

During August 2024, the number of cattle in the industrial sector decreased by 0.1% or 1.1 thousand heads to 923.6 thousand heads (-2% or 14 thousand heads for the year), in particular cows – by 0.03% or 100 heads to 379.7 thousand heads (-2% or 7.6 thousand heads per year).

In the homestead sector, the number of cattle decreased by 1% or 14.4 thousand heads in August to 1.4402 million heads (-11% or 161 thousand heads for the year), in particular cows – by 0.5% or 4.5 thousand heads to 875.7 thousand heads (-9% or 79.8 thousand heads for the year).

The reduction in the number of cattle, in particular cows, is due to the increase in the costs of milk production and the consequences of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation.

Homesteads became the most vulnerable to these factors, so the number of livestock in them is decreasing more. The industrial sector, on the contrary, proved to be more resistant to the consequences of the war, which allows us to hope for an increase in the number of dairy farms in safe regions of Ukraine, where, despite the difficult situation, existing facilities are being modernized and new facilities are being built in order to increase the highly productive herd of cows, - the Association notes.