The government, once every five years or so, conducts a livestock census, counting all domesticated animals. The 20th livestock census was conducted last year (the 19th was in 2012, and the first in 1919), and some provisional data is now available. Even as we await the final report, the provisional numbers, though sketchy, are useful to improve our understanding of the agricultural economy. Livestock, after all, is now well over a third of agricultural output, and accounted for nearly half the incremental output between 2012 and 2016.
Growth in the number of animals for each of the livestock categories was
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