Spatial distribution of cattle, sheep and goat density, and grazed areas for the European Union and the United Kingdom

To improve the sustainability of the European livestock sector we need improved knowledge on livestock density, and also on the grazing patterns. Here we provide spatially explicit data on the distribution of cattle, sheep and goats, developed by combining agricultural and veterinary statistics, in-situ data, expert surveys and machine learning. The data allow for the differentiation between livestock that are grazing on semi-natural areas and managed grasslands, versus those that do not graze and are kept indoors. 

This dataset covers all European Union Member States and the United Kingdom, and presents the spatial distribution of cattle, sheep and goat density for approximately the year 2020. Livestock density was allocated on the Corine Land Cover data, resulting in a data-set with a 100 m resolution (EPSG: 3035 - ETRS89-extended / LAEA Europe).

Together with the livestock density maps, we also provide spatial data on the probability for grazing, and allocated grazed and non grazed areas.

File description:

The data-set consists of the following files:

• clc_forage_mask.tif , forage areas mask for EU, based on selected Corine Land Cover classes (not including seminatural land cover areas such as natural grasslands...). This was developed by surveying grazing, grassland and livestock experts from all EU Member States and the United Kingdom. More info in the upcoming paper and in the linked paper below (Malek et al. 2024). Values are the same as in the Corine Land Cover data.
• grazing_probability.tif , grazing probability map, indicating how likely each location in the EU+UK is grazed
• allocated_grazing.tif , allocated grazing map, indicating which areas are grazed and which are not

• cattle density maps:
  • cattle_grazing.tif , cattle grazing on managed forage areas
  • cattle_other.tif , cattle kept indoors, receiving feed from managed forage areas
  • cattle_seminatural.tif ,  cattle grazing in semi-natural areas
  • cattle_mosaic_categorical.tif (with a legend file) , combined categorical map for all cattle types.

• sheep and goat density maps:
  • sheep_goat_other.tif , sheep and goat density
  • sheep_goat_seminatural.tif , sheep and goat grazing in seminatural areas