Beef kill: Weekly supply hits 30,000 head for first time since April
Latest beef kill figures show just over 30,000 head of cattle (excluding veal) were slaughtered at Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM)-approved factories in the week ending Sunday, September 28.
The last time the weekly factory cattle supply surpassed 30,000 head was in the final week of April.
This time last year, weekly factory cattle supplies were approaching 40,000 head and weekly kill numbers have been running behind last year since July.
The graph below shows how weekly beef kill numbers this year from July have compared to last year:
This trend of lower cattle supplies than last year is expected to continue into the end of the year.
The table below details cattle supplies in the week ending Sunday, September 28, compared to the same week of last year, and the cumulative kill-to-date this year compared to last year:
| Animal Type | Week Starting 2025-09-22 | Equivalent Last Year | Cumulative 2025 | Cumulative 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Young Bulls | 1,060 | 1,262 | 82,053 | 83,504 |
| Bulls | 418 | 501 | 18,830 | 22,591 |
| Steers | 13,897 | 18,918 | 465,150 | 500,058 |
| Cows | 5,825 | 8,606 | 268,005 | 321,355 |
| Heifers | 8,821 | 10,505 | 376,963 | 374,679 |
| Total | 30,021 | 39,792 | 1,211,001 | 1,302,187 |
Looking at the data in the table above, the most noticeable drop-off currently is in the steer category with just under 13,900 steers slaughtered last week versus over 18,900 slaughtered in the same week of last year.
The cumulative kill-to-date this year (excluding veal) is down by over 91,000 head on last year.
