New data from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has shown the surge in the factory cull-cow kill for the first two months of this year has come solely from the dairy herd.
The number of suckler cows culled in the first two months of this year has fallen compared to figures from the first two months of 2021.
The number of cows processed at both DAFM and Local Authority (LA) approved abattoirs in the first two months of 2022 was over 9,000 cows ahead of 2021 levels.
Cows processed in the first two months of 2022:
DAFM approved LA approved Beef Dairy Beef Dairy Total January: 8,766 18,494 2,239 316 29,815 February: 8,778 23,229 1,372 322 33,701
Cows processed in the first two months of 2021:
DAFM Approved LA Approved Beef Dairy Beef Dairy Total January: 10,154 15,180 1,591 190 27,115 February: 8,009 17,184 1,607 320 27,120
Comparing both years, we see the number of suckler-bred cows culled in the first two months of this year has fallen by just over 200 head to 21,150, while the number of dairy-bred cows culled has increased by almost 9,500 to 43,350.
Beef kill to date this year
While comparison figures are only available for the first two months of this year, department beef kill figures for up to and including the week ending Sunday, April 24, show that the number of cull cows processed to date this year stands at over 122,000 head.
This year’s cow kill is running almost 22,500 head in front of last year.
The number of cattle processed to date this year stands at just under 570,000 head of cattle (including veal). This figure is up by over 60,500 head of cattle (including veal).
Increases in all categories of cattle processed have been seen this year, but the biggest rises have been seen in the cow, steer, heifer and veal categories.
The number of calves processed this year increased by almost 7,000 head to 26,967 calves this year.