The number of cattle slaughtered in Ireland in 2023 fell by 2% year on year to almost 1.9 million head, according to latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) today (Thursday, January 25).
The 2%drop represented an annual decrease of 38,924 in the total number of cattle slaughtered.
The latest CSO figures highlight that there was also a drop in the number of both sheep and pigs slaughtered last year.
Sheep slaughterings fell by 23,286 head (0.7%) in 2023 to nearly 3.2 million head while pig slaughterings were also down by 324,171 head (8.9%) to more than 3.3 million head last year.
The figures are based on slaughterings at both meat establishments approved by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) and slaughterhouses and meat plants approved by Local Authorities.
According to Mairead Griffin, statistician in the CSO agriculture accounts and production section, while there was an annual decrease in livestock slaughter numbers for 2023 analysis shows that cattle slaughterings increased in December 2023 compared to figures for December 2022.
Griffin added: “Cattle slaughterings increased by 2.4% to almost 145,000 head in December 2023 when compared with December 2022.
“The number of sheep slaughtered fell by 3% to just over 263,000 heads in December 2023 when compared with December 2022, while pig slaughterings contracted by 8.9% to approximately 256,000 head.
According to the latest slaughtering figures from the CSO the number of cattle slaughtered last month increased by 3,433 head when compared to corresponding figures for December 2022.
But the number of sheep slaughtered fell by 8,035 head in December 2023 compared to the same month a year earlier while the number of pigs slaughtered last month also fell by 24,908 head when compared to corresponding figures for December 2022.
Meanwhile latest figures from Bord Bia show that cattle throughput in DAFM approved plants totaled 33,760 head up until the week ending January 13, 2024 – which is a 3% increase from the corresponding period last year.
“Prime cattle are relatively scarce, considering strong demand from customers in the UK and Europe for in-spec steers and heifers,” Bord Bia stated.
It has said that year to date cow slaughtering’s are running about 1,700 head behind of record 2022 levels.