Cattle slaughterings were down by 20.4% last month when compared with September 2024, new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show.

Between January and September 2025, cattle slaughterings decreased by 8.6% when compared with the same period in 2024.

In the year to September 2025, cattle slaughterings are estimated to be 1.3 million head, a decrease of 119,000 head when compared with 2024.

CSO sheep kill figures

The number of sheep slaughtered declined by 19.5% or 428,000 head to 1.8 million in the first nine months of 2025, the CSO figures show.

The number of sheep slaughtered fell by 26.7% in September 2025 when compared with the same month in 2024.

The number of pigs slaughtered in the first nine months of 2025 grew by 60,000 or 2.4% to 2.6 million when compared with the same nine months in 2024.

Pig slaughterings increased by 6.7% in September 2025 when compared with September 2024.

Beef prices

Meanwhile, this week's factory quotes have seen beef prices increase again despite the four-day kill as a result of the October Bank Holiday weekend.

Procurement staff have said that Christmas orders have been placed with processors and factory agents will have their work cut out filling kill sheets over the coming weeks as the season traditionally sees a rise in demand for beef.

Flat price offers and deals are more widely available this week, in particular for choice lots of well-finished cattle and where a reasonable number of cattle are involved.