The English sheep flock has increased for the first time in 5 years, according to the latest June livestock survey released by Defra.
The country's sheep flock grew to reach 14.9 million head, up two percent on 2021, marking the first increase in five years.
There was a 2.9% increase in the female breeding flock in England, in line with the increase seen in the UK flock from December.
This is the first increase in the female flock since 2017, although it remains smaller than the 2020 flock.
There was notable growth in ewes intended for first time breeding, with numbers up by 10.3% on 2021 to 1.2 million head.
Lambs under one-year-old also saw an increase, up 1.5% to 7.5 million head.
Breeding ewes intended for slaughter stood at 583,000 head, up 3.5% on 2021 numbers.
Both rams and other sheep numbers contracted with 171,000 rams recorded, down 6.6% (12,000 head) and 0.3% (600 head) on 2021 levels respectively.
