Beef kill: Cattle supply over 1,000 head/week below 2023 – Agriland.ie

Weekly beef kill numbers have been running over 1,000 head/week below the equivalent weeks of last year for the past five consecutive weeks.

The number of cattle slaughtered at Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM)-approved slaughter plants in the week ending Sunday, June 30, totalled just under 31,900 head back 1,100 from the 33,000 cattle slaughtered in the same week of 2023.

The total number of cattle slaughtered at DAFM-approved factories to date this year stands at just over 875,000 head (875,327) including veal.

Despite weekly kill numbers dipping below the equivalent weeks of last year since early June, the cumulative beef kill this year is over 8,800 head above last year (including veal).

The number of calves slaughtered at DAFM approved factories below eight months of age (category V) has fallen considerably this year.

As of week 26 last year, a total of 30,418 calves had been slaughtered under the V category. That figure is 11,266 head above the 19,152 calves slaughtered at DAFM-approved factories to date this year.

The table below gives an overview of the beef kill for last week and an overview of the beef kill to date this year:

Supplies of finished cattle have been forecast to tighten into the second half of the year, however, more recent speculation from factory procurement staff has suggested that if large weekly kills of cows continue, this could offset the overall shortfall in factory cattle supplies that had been forecast earlier this year.