Despite the military events, some agricultural enterprises in different regions of Ukraine managed to increase the number of cattle. According to the Kurkul.com portal, as of April 1, the number of cattle in the country amounted to 2.33 million, including 1.26 million cows. This is 7% less than on the same date last year, but at the same time it was more than a month ago, said Giorgi Kukhaleishvili, an analyst at the Association of Milk Producers.

Agricultural enterprises in several regions have managed to increase the number of cattle over the past year, despite the war and economic challenges, the expert noted. Compared to March 1, 2024, the number of cattle in Ukraine increased by 76 thousand (3%), and the number of cows increased by 3.3 thousand (0.3%).

The industrial sector keeps 39% of animals, while 61% are kept by households. At industrial enterprises, the number of cattle is 916.1 thousand, which is 3.4 thousand (0.4%) more than a month ago. The number of cows at the enterprises amounted to 378.7 thousand, an increase of 2.3 thousand (0.6%).

According to Kukhaleishvili, the decline in cattle numbers has been a long-standing problem for Ukraine due to the lack of an effective state program to support dairy farming, and the war has only worsened the situation. Many farmers are refraining from increasing their cow numbers due to wartime and lack of funds. Keeping cows is becoming more expensive due to lower profitability of milk production and rising costs of feed, fuel, and electricity.

According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, the increase in cattle numbers was recorded at agricultural enterprises in Ternopil (11%), Zakarpattia (6%), Mykolaiv (4%), Vinnytsia (2%) and Ivano-Frankivsk (1%) regions compared to the same period last year.