Figures from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) have revealed that over 4,500 calves were slaughtered at DAFM-approved factories in the week ending Sunday, March 5.
According to DAFM’s weekly beef kill reports, 4,546 category-V carcasses were reported in the week ending Sunday, March 5, which was week nine of this year.
A statement from DAFM to Agriland confirmed this is the highest reported weekly kill in this category on record.
Category-V veal refers to bovines slaughtered from the day of birth until the day they are eight months old.
The majority of calves are slaughtered in this category during the months February, March and April.
Just under 28,400 calves were slaughtered at DAFM-approved factories in 2022. The 2022 calf kill increased by approximately 7,400 head on the 21,000 calves slaughtered in 2021.
The total number of calves slaughtered in the first nine weeks of this year stands at 13,784 head and is just over 800 calves above of 12,798 calves slaughtered in the first nine weeks of last year.
Ban on slaughter of calves
Last November, the Calf Stakeholder Forum was working through a plan to stop the slaughter of young dairy bull calves from 2024, which could see processors refuse to collect milk from farmers engaged in the practice.
However, this plan is not yet a “done deal” according to the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA).
Sources have said that the forum members are working on developing a ‘charter’ to ensure milk from farms that engage in the practice is not collected.
The forum includes a number of farm organisations, as well as the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS); Dairy Industry Ireland (DII); state bodies; and the DAFM.
It is understood that, from 2023, stakeholders will begin putting greater emphasis on this issue when dealing with farmers, with a zero-tolerance approach to be taken from 2024.