Last week’s beef kill declined slightly from the previous week, with 38,250 head of cattle slaughtered in the week ending Sunday, November 26.
This is compared to just under 39,000 head of cattle (excluding veal) slaughtered in the previous week, according to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) figures.
A look at the DAFM prices reported for the week ending November 26, shows all types of cattle increased in price that week.
The table below gives an overview of the beef kill for week 46 of this year versus the same week of last year and the cumulative kill this year compared to last year:
Category Week ending
26-Nov-23Equivalent
Last YearCumulative
2023Cumulative
2022Young Bulls 2,305 2,825 104,680 119,420 Bulls 444 471 25,761 26,056 Steers 13,619 12,571 637,832 659,888 Cows 11,299 11,115 370,174 369,450 Heifers 10,583 10,767 444,287 459,481 Total 38,250 37,749 1,582,734 1,634,295
The steer (bullock) supply last week was just over 13,600 head, which is ahead of the same week last year, but back slightly on last week’s steer kill.
Weekly steer supplies have been falling since mid-October, when supplies peaked at just over 18,000 head in the third week of October.
The graph below shows how weekly beef kills have been comparing to last year:
Last week’s heifer kill was slightly below the same week of last year, but the cumulative heifer kill this year is below last years.
The young bull kill last week is 520 head below the same week of 2022, but the cumulative young bull kill this year is over 14,700 head below last year.