The national beef kill in Ireland for the week commencing Monday, June 21, has marginally increased when compared to the number of cattle processed during the previous week.
According to figures released by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) this week, the total number of cattle slaughtered at department-approved plants last week stood at 30,283 head – up 812 head from the previous week.
This is the second consecutive week where the throughput has witnessed an increase having dropped by a considerable 2,454 head on the week commencing Monday, June 7.
Beef kill outlook
It remains to be seen if the weekly supply-increase trend will continue into this week however, with good weather forecast, many farmers are tied up with fieldwork taking advantage of the sun to secure a crop of hay.
It is likely cattle will not be rushed out this week and the beef kill will experience a drop.
Last week’s increase came from a rise in the number of steers, heifers and cows presented for slaughter – when compared to the previous week.
The biggest jump in supplies processed last week was witnessed in the heifer category – as an additional 667 head had been slaughtered in comparison to the previous week – bringing the total kill to 8,110 head of heifers.
The number of steers processed last week also rose to 11,084 head, which is a week-on-week kill increase of 503 head.
Meanwhile, the weekly throughput of cows last week increased by 477 head – bringing the total weekly kill to 7,473 head.
However, the number of young bulls appearing at factories nationwide witnessed a sharp drop of over 700 head with the number of bulls down 85 head.
Taking a look at this year’s figures on the number of cattle processed to date, all categories are behind on last year’s figures with the exception of cows, which are up by a notable 4,456 head when compared to figures from this time last year.