Beef kill: Supplies cross 31,000 head for first time since April
Latest beef kill figures show the number of cattle slaughtered in the week ending Sunday, November 9, surpassed 31,000 head for the first time since late April this year.
Weekly cattle kill numbers have been running below last year for most of the second half of this year.
Bord Bia estimates the 2025 beef kill to be 140-150,000 head below last year with an estimate of 1.65 million cattle being slaughtered this year.
The 2026 beef kill is expected to fall a further 35,000-45,000 head with an estimated beef kill for 2026 of 1.6 million head of cattle.
The graph below details beef kill numbers up to 2024 and 2025 and 2026 beef kill estimates
Bord Bia expects cattle supplies to remain relatively tight through to mid-2026.
Just over 31,300 cattle were slaughtered in the week ending Sunday, November 9. This figure is down over 7,000 head on the same week of last year.
The table below details cattle supplies in the week ending Sunday, October 26, compared to the same week of last year, and the cumulative kill-to-date this year compared to last year.
| Animal Type | Week Starting 2025-11-03 | Equivalent Last Year | Cumulative 2025 | Cumulative 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Young Bulls | 1,430 | 1,576 | 89,189 | 91,483 |
| Bulls | 350 | 479 | 21,049 | 25,448 |
| Steers | 12,912 | 14,636 | 540,960 | 598,474 |
| Cows | 7,321 | 10,056 | 305,513 | 378,495 |
| Heifers | 9,301 | 11,957 | 426,608 | 443,433 |
| Total | 31,314 | 38,704 | 1,383,319 | 1,537,333 |
The total beef kill to date this year has fallen by 154,000 head (excluding veal).
While supplies have been subdued this year, beef prices remain largely positive despite recent processor moves to reduce cow price and move away from flat pricing prime cattle.
