ZAGREB, 24 April 2022 - Despite an increase in the total number of cattle of 1.2% in 2021 compared to 2020, the total number of dairy cows continued to decrease, by 7.3%, the Croatian Bureau of Statistics has said.

Last year there were 428,000 head of cattle.

The number of cattle of two years and older decreased by 0.6% to 165,000 head, and the number of dairy cows fell by 7.3% to 102,000.

The number of cattle between one and two years old decreased by 3.6% to 107,000, while the number of cattle under one year increased by 6.8% to 156,000 head.

The number of pigs decreased by 5.9% to 972,000, with the number of breeding pigs falling by 5.3% to 107,000 and that of sows increasing by 2% to 51,000 head.

The number of sheep decreased by 1.2% to 654,000 head and the production of milk sheep fell by 8.4% to 87,000.

The number of goats remained about the same as in 2020, at 86,000 head.

The number of poultry decreased by 7.4% to 12.1 million, with that of chickens (broilers) decreasing by 13% to 8 million.

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ZAGREB, 6 April 2022 - In the last two years, businesses in the Croatian animal husbandry sector have faced serious disruptions, which have been additionally worsened by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to keynote speeches delivered at the start of a conference of cattle breeders on Wednesday.

The two-day conference, which began in the northern town of Sveti Martin na Muri, has brought together cattle breeders and representatives of the Croatian Ministry of Agriculture and the Food Agency.

Zdravko Barać of the Agriculture Ministry told the event that in the last two years the ministry had implemented a set of aid schemes. One of those schemes envisages the allocation of HRK 171 million and to date, HRK 140 million has been disbursed.

Despite some problems, production per (animal husbandry) business has increased by 13.5% since last year, said the deputy head of the Croatian Agency for Agriculture and Food, Krunoslav Karalić.

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ZAGREB, 2 Sept 2021 - The cattle farming sector is among the sectors worst hit by the corona crisis, and budget support to cattle farmers was one of the topics on the agenda of Thursday's meeting between Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković and representatives of that sector.

The meeting also discussed the continuation of negotiations with the European Commission on additional measures necessary for the regulation of the market.

The talks focused on the rise of fodder prices in the last nine months, and Vučković said that this trend was triggered entirely by external circumstances and disruptions caused by climate change.

Animal husbandry in Croatia is particularly affected by a rise in the prices of cereals and oil crops of between 20% and 80% on the year.

Commenting on the vulnerability of livestock farming, the minister admitted that the sector had been faced with big challenges since Croatia's admission to the EU.

However, some statistics show recovery, such as the halting of the drop in the number of cows, and there has been a modest rise in cattle headcount, the minister said.

She said that since Croatia's admission to the EU, the number of milk producers had dropped by 60%, however, the output per milk producer had risen twofold.

A representative of cattle growers, Damir Horvatić, said that the authorities should step up the protection of domestic production.

He proposed a ban on the export of cereals until local demand is met so as to avoid fodder shortage.

Horvatić also appealed for better regulation of the use of arable land.

He pointed out that in 2020, a kilogram of maize cost 1.20 kuna to rise to 1.80 kuna this year, whereas the price of a liter of milk was HRK 2.80 to fall to HRK 2.70 this year. 

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