The positivity in the beef trade seen throughout this autumn has managed to draw out large numbers of factory cattle with the beef kill totaling over 41,000 head in the week ending Sunday, October 13.

Latest figures from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) show that 41,141 head of cattle (excluding veal) were slaughtered in week 41 of this year.

Last week saw the highest weekly kill of heifers this year at 11,899 head and the third-highest weekly kill of steers this year at 18,319 head.

The past three consecutive weeks have seen the three highest weekly steer kills this year. This is not an unusual trend as large volumes of steers tend to come fit off grass at the end of the grazing season.

The graph below illustrates how the overall weekly beef kill has been increasing over the past nine weeks and how supplies this autumn have been trending ahead of last autumn:

Despite the challenging year from a weather perspective, September and October to date have seen generally favourable weather conditions in most parts of the country with ground conditions remaining better than had been seen in previous years.

The table below details the beef kill composition for the week ending Sunday, October 13 versus the same week of last year and the cumulative beef kill this year versus last year:

TypeWeek ending
Sun, Oct 13
Equivalent
last year
Cumulative
2024
Cumulative
2023
Young bulls1,2421,51285,83193,325
Bulls47646223,55822,755
Steers18,31918,035537,549544,852
Cows9,2058,953339,355307,075
Heifers11,89910,323397,932381,933
Total41,14139,2851,384,2251,349,940

Strong weekly cow kill numbers are continuing as has been the trend all this year with the cumulative cow kill now 32,280 cows above the same time of last year, despite 2023 being a record year for cow kill numbers.

Steer and young bull supplies are back on last year while heifer kill numbers remain strong.

Reduced average carcass weights have been a challenge for the sector this year after two difficult years from a weather perspective, but the relatively good autumn weather conditions coupled with the firm beef trade has sustained some level of positivity to the sector this autumn.