The number of beef cattle (excluding veal) slaughtered in the week ending Sunday, July 30, totaled 33,042 head, according to Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) figures.
Since early March of this year, the weekly supplies of factory cattle have been ranging from approximately 30,000-32,500 head of cattle.
Last week’s throughput is the first time kill supplies (excluding veal) crossed 33,000 head since late-February of this year.
The table below gives an overview of last week’s beef kill and the total number of cattle slaughtered to date this year:
Animal Week starting
July 24, 2023Equivalent
last yearCumulative
2023Cumulative
2022Young Bulls 1,804 2,121 78,466 88,124 Bulls 698 683 16,758 16,737 Steers 15,046 15,274 361,130 372,637 Cows 7,235 7,295 228,303 236,577 Heifers 8,259 8,838 279,666 288,649 Total 33,042 34,211 964,323 1,002,724
As the table above indicates, the cumulative beef kill to date this year is 38,400 head of cattle below last year’s supply.
Interestingly, the week ending Sunday, July 30, saw the highest weekly kill of bullocks (at over 15,000 head) and the lowest weekly kill of heifers (at 8,200 head) to date this year.
The graph below shows how the cumulative weekly supplies of cattle have been fairing this year compared to last year.
As the graph above indicates, supplies in the past four weeks have fallen below the same weeks of last year.
Supplies of finished cattle are expected to increase into the final quarter of the year as the grazing season draws to a close.
From a price perspective, weekly cattle prices are continuing to decline with cows taking the biggest price hit in the week ending Sunday, July 30.
It remains to be seen where base price for heifers and steers will bottom out and begin to firm up again, however a look at the Bord Bia beef market tracker shows that Irish composite price is currently 19c/kg behind the Export Benchmark Price.