The beef kill was up slightly last week on the previous week. Statistics released from the Department of Agriculture this afternoon show that 32,410 beef animals were killed last week, which is 282 up on the previous week.

Within the beef figures the steer kill remains up on last year’s figures. 13,275 steers were killed last week this is running 15 per cent ahead of the same week last year and 12 per cent ahead of last year’s cumulative figures.

The young bull kill remains down on last year now running five per cent behind last year’s figures. 2898 young bulls were killed last week. This equates to a massive 41 per cent drop compared to the same week last year.

The heifer and cow kill was also up last week on the previous week. In total 8,137 cows and 7,968 heifers were killed last week. Cumulatively the heifer and cow kill is up seven and 14 per cent respectively on the same week last year.

Last week’s sheep kill was up five per cent on the same week last year. The total weekly sheep kill was 57,672 this compares to 58,691 from the previous week. Cumulatively the sheep kill is up nine per cent on 2012’s figures at this stage. To date 2,370,043 sheep have been killed since the start of the year.

The number of lambs killed last week was down on the previous week at 47,464. The total lamb kill is up eight per cent so far this year on 2012 figures. The figure for ewe/ram slaughtering’s was up at 9,850 which is 31 per cent up on the same week last year.

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