Latest beef kill figures from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) show that the overall factory cattle supply to date this year is almost 53,000 head below the same time period last year.
As of Sunday, November 5, a total of 1.52 million cattle (1,518,187) had been slaughtered at DAFM-approved factories. The figure is 52,970 head of cattle below the same time period of 2022.
Prime cattle have been presented for slaughter a few weeks later than normal this autumn due to poorer performance at grass as a result of the poor weather conditions.
Analysis from Bord Bia suggests that prime cattle throughput is expected to increase going into the final quarter of the year.
The table below gives an overview of last weeks’ beef kill compared to the same week last year and the overall beef kill this year compared to last year.
Type Week ending
Nov 5, 23Equivalent
Last YearCumulative
2023Cumulative
2022Young bulls 1,585 1,573 98,267 111,825 Bulls 396 409 24,149 24,523 Steers 14,899 13,996 594,937 618,096 Cows 9,043 8,207 335,604 336,815 Heifers 8,917 9,397 412,260 426,928 Total 34,840 33,582 1,465,217 1,518,187
As the table above indicates, the number of steers processed to-date this year has fallen by over 23,000 head.
The cumulative heifer kill has dropped by over 14,500 head and the young bull kill has fallen by over 13,500 head.
The cow kill has remained relatively high with numbers only back by 1,200 head. Changes in stocking rates on farms due to regulation changes, coupled with prolonged wet autumn weather may well have contributed to the high number of cull cows this year.
The graph below shows how weekly kill figures this year have been comparing to last year.
The significant dip in supply numbers last week comes as a result of the October Bank Holiday and resulting four-day week at most factories.
Supplies for this week are expected to have bounced back, but to what extent remains to be seen.