The number of cattle slaughtered at Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) approved factories this year is set to be the highest since 1999 – 23 years ago.
Speaking at a recent beef event in Co. Laois, Bord Bia’s senior manager of meat and livestock, Joe Burke, said that the 2022 beef kill is forecast to hit 1.81 million cattle, which is a 7% increase on the 1.69 million cattle processed last year.
As the table below indicates, Bord Bia has also forecast the supply of finished cattle to fall by approximately 30,000 head or 2% in 2023.
The news comes as the Irish Composite Price remains substantially behind the Export Benchmark Price.
According to Bord Bia’s Cattle Price Dashboard, the Irish Composite price for beef was at €4.39/kg, while the export benchmark was at €4.78/kg as of Saturday, November 19.
The figures would indicate Irish beef prices remain almost 40c/kg behind the market indicator price.
Irish beef price has finally started to rise and after falling to a low of €4.50/kg on the grid for steers 3-4 weeks ago, prices have increased by 20c/kg for prime cattle and speculators on the trade would suggest Irish beef price will continue to rise.
Record cow kill last week
Figures from the DAFM show the number of cows being processed on a weekly basis is continuing to grow, with over 11,100 cows slaughtered in the week ending Sunday, November 4, making this the highest weekly kill of cows since February 2000 (over 22 years ago).
Last week’s figure brings this year’s total cow kill to 369,450 cows, an increase of over 51,000 cows on the same time period last year.
The numbers of finished bullocks being processed is falling every week while the number of heifers being processed is declining at a lower rate.
As of Sunday, November 27, the 2022 beef kill (including veal) was running 125,000 ahead of figures from the same time period last year.