Beef kill: Cow kill driving growth in factory cattle supply – Agriland.ie

Weekly factory beef kills have increased for the past four consecutive weeks after being on an overall declining trend since early April.

In the week ending Sunday, July 7, the steer and heifer supplies were 1,000 and 600 head respectively below the same week of 2023, while the cow kill was over 1,200 head above the same week of last year.

The cumulative cow kill to date this year has surpassed 226,000 head – an increase of almost 20,000 cows, according to Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) figures. Almost 60% of the cow kill last week were P grade cows.

The table below gives an overview of the beef kill in the week ending Sunday, July 7, versus the same week last year and the total kill this year versus the same time period of last year:

The total beef kill last week has almost approached a similar level to the same week of last year, after nine consecutive weeks with cattle supplies below the same weeks of 2023.

Despite this, the cumulative kill this year remains over 19,700 head above last year – owing largely to the growth in cow kill numbers.

Cumulative steer supplies this year have fallen below last year while the overall heifer kill this year remains over 7,000 head above last year.

The graph below shows how weekly factory cattle supplies have picked up since early June this year:

Overall beef kill supplies had been forecast to drop by 30-40,000 head this year however, latest beef kill trends and the growth in weekly cow kill numbers would indicate if the large weekly cow kill continues, the overall fall in cattle supplies may be much lower than initially forecast.

Lower than anticipated grass growth levels seen in June and July has caused many farmers to offload livestock that may usually be kept on for longer and additional cull cows are being moved on also which is being reflected in weekly beef kill numbers.