Slaughter figures for cattle and sheep up for first 9 months of 2020

The slaughter figures for both cattle and sheep have increased during the first nine months of 2020, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Sheep slaughterings increased by 6.1% during the period January to September 2020 when compared to the corresponding period in 2019, the office notes.

A further comparison between between January to September 2020 and the same period in 2019 also shows that the number of cattle slaughtered increased by 3.7%.

Meanwhile, pig slaughter figures rose by 1.3% over the same timeframe.

An analysis of the data for September 2020 compared to September 2019 shows that cattle slaughterings increased by 66.1%.

The CSO highlighted that some meat processing plants were closed during September 2019 due to protests during this time period. This has affected the comparisons, the office added.

The number of sheep slaughtered rose by 20.6% for September 2020, while pig slaughterings increased by 9.0%.

In terms of numbers of throughput, 1,405,500 head of cattle have been processed from January to September 2020. This compares to 1,355,100 head slaughtered during the same timeframe last year.

Meanwhile, 2,323,000 head of sheep have been slaughtered during the first nine months of this year, compared to 2,190,000 head for the nine months of 2019.

Finally, 2,627,300 pigs have been processed during the January-September period, versus 2,593,500 pigs for the first nine months of last year.