The number of cattle slaughtered in April 2014 was 16.8% higher than in April 2013.
According to data released by the Central Statistics Office today over 149,000 cattle were slaughtered in April compared to 127,000 in April 2013.
A further comparison of April 2014 and April 2013 slaughtering figures also shows that sheep slaughterings increased by 15.4% and pig slaughterings increased by 0.6%.
A comparison of figures for January-April 2014 with the corresponding period of 2013 shows that cattle slaughterings increased by 13.4%, sheep slaughterings decreased by 6.4%, pig slaughterings decreased by 0.3%.
Source: CSO