Cattle slaughterings up 14% in July

The number of cattle slaughtered in July 2018 increased by 14% when compared to July 2017, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

This was revealed in the CSO’s latest statistic release announced earlier today (Friday, August 24).

A further comparison of July 2018 and July 2017 slaughtering figures also shows an increase in both sheep and pig killings as well, though to a lesser extent.

Sheep slaughterings increased by 8.5%, while pig slaughterings also saw a 8.1% rise.

Source: Central Statistics Office

As seen in the above graph, July’s cattle throughput figures are in marked contrast with the same month for both 2017 and 2016.

Some 163,700 cattle were slaughtered in July of this year, which is a sharp rise on the 143,600 cattle recorded in July 2017 and even more so compared to the 135,900 figure from 2016.

Harsh weather conditions, including the severe drought which hit the country throughout the month, can no doubt be attributed as a key factor to the rise.

A total of 292,000 sheep were killed during July 2018, up from 269,100 in 2017 and 258,200 animals in July 2016.

A similar number of pigs went through the system, with last July seeing 292,500 animals slaughtered, up from 270,600 and 266,600 animals in July of 2017 and 2016 respectively.

A comparison of figures for January-July 2018 with the corresponding period of 2017 shows an increase across the board for livestock killings, according to the CSO.

Cattle slaughterings increased by 3.2%, while sheep throughput rose by 1.8%.

Pig slaughterings saw the biggest increase, experiencing a 4.9% jump on the same time-frame from last year.