The young bull kill at Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM)-approved slaughter facilities has fallen by just under 80,500 head to date this year when compared to figures from the same week of 2017.
A total of 99,949 young bulls have been slaughtered this year, according to DAFM figures. In the same time period of 2017, that figure stood at 180,438.
The young bull kill has been in decline over the past number of years, as more farmers opt for steer beef finishing systems.
There are a number of reasons for the drift away from bull beef systems, but the point is often raised that more focus on bull beef would help the sector to reduce the average slaughter age nationally.
Despite this, the fact remains that many of the key Irish markets have a preference for steer beef over bull beef.
Most beef processors in Ireland are reluctant to actively encourage suppliers into bull beef systems, but are generally happy to deal with farmers who are willing to meet the required specifications for bull beef production.
Young bulls include all male uncastrated cattle from 12 to 24-months-of-age.
Interestingly, while the young bull kill has dropped off by over 80,000 head, the steer (bullock) kill has only increased slightly in that same time period.
In the first 49 weeks of this year, just over 654,000 head of steers were slaughtered at DAFM-approved factories. In the same time period of 2017, just over 652,500 head of steers were slaughtered.
These figures indicate that while the young bull kill has dropped by over 80,000 head, the steer kill has only increased by just over 1,500 head.
While the number of prime male cattle being slaughtered may have fallen off since 2017, the numbers of cows and heifers being slaughtered have increased significantly.
When comparing the same time periods mentioned above, cow kill has grown by almost 70,000 head and the heifer kill has grown by over 58,000 head.
Information on the latest weekly beef kill statistics is available here.