Scotland’s poultry sector has seen numbers decline to the lowest level in 10 years, according to results from the December 2014 Agricultural Survey.
Figures released by the Scottish Government reveal total poultry numbers were down 16% to 11.91million birds.
Broiler numbers fell by 31.6% to 5.3million birds, representing the lowest level since the December survey began in 2003, while the number of laying birds increased by 9.3% to 5.47million birds.
The sharp drop in poultry numbers has been blamed on a large number of broiler producers ceasing production – last year the main poultry processor in Scotland, 2 Sisters, gave notice to a number of producers resulting in an end to the majority of broiler production in the north and north-east.
Findings from the survey also reveal a slight drop in the number of beef cattle and lambs, however livestock numbers were generally up.
Total cattle numbers increased by 6,300 to 1.73million, with beef cattle down 1.3% to 422,900, and dairy cow numbers up 4.2% to 174,400.
The number of sheep increased slightly to 4.84million, with breeding ewes up 4.8% to 2.93million and lambs down 1.3% to 1.76million.
The pig sector continued to grow with numbers up 10% to 322,100.
On the cropping side, the total area of winter plantings remained relatively unchanged at 504,578 acres.
Wheat and oilseed rape plantings were both up to 259,207 acres and 89,944 acres respectively.
While barley plantings were down 2.3% to 136,152 acres and the area of oats planted fell 6.3% to 19,273 acres. The area of grass sown was also down 10% to 133,681 acres.
The survey also revealed that 7.32million tonnes of grass silage and haylage was produced last year – up 6.6% on 2013.
The amount of hay produced increased by 17% to 363,700 tonnes, while the amount of arable silage was down 15% to 294,500 tonnes.