{"id":1338253,"date":"2024-06-30T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-30T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.agriland.ie\/?p=1338253"},"modified":"2024-06-28T14:50:26","modified_gmt":"2024-06-28T13:50:26","slug":"beef-kill-strong-supply-of-cows-continues-into-june","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lightsail.agriland.ie\/farming-news\/beef-kill-strong-supply-of-cows-continues-into-june\/","title":{"rendered":"Beef kill: Strong supply of cows continues into June"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Latest beef kill figures show that while supplies of prime cattle have tightened significantly in recent weeks, the numbers of cows available for slaughter appears to be remaining high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latest figures from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) show over 9,000 cows were slaughtered in the week ending Sunday, June 23, over 300 cows above the same week of last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cow kill last week was the only major category where supplies were above the same week of last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The table below gives an overview of the beef kill last week compared to the same week last year and the cumulative beef kill this year compared to last year:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Animal<\/th>Week ending
23-Jun-24<\/th>		Equivalent
Last Year<\/th>		Cumulative
2024<\/th>		Cumulative
2023<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Young Bulls:<\/td>2,843<\/td>3,646<\/td>62,363<\/td>67,393<\/td><\/tr>
Bulls:<\/td>671<\/td>615<\/td>13,453<\/td>13,405<\/td><\/tr>
Steers:<\/td>9,996<\/td>10,885<\/td>296,255<\/td>296,318<\/td><\/tr>
Cows:<\/td>9,050<\/td>8,701<\/td>206,849<\/td>188,992<\/td><\/tr>
Heifers:<\/td>8,253<\/td>8,554<\/td>244,301<\/td>235,983<\/td><\/tr>
Total<\/strong>:<\/td>30,813<\/strong><\/td>32,401<\/strong><\/td>823,221<\/strong><\/td>802,091<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As can be seen from the table above, the cow kill remains almost 18,000 head above last year and over 200,000 head of cows have been slaughtered at DAFM-approved factories this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supplies of all types cattle had been strong in the first four months of this year but have slackened off since then and are projected to slacken off further into the second half of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The graph below gives an overview of how weekly supplies of cattle this year, have been comparing to supplies of cattle last year:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As can be seen from the graph above, supplies dropped off in April this year when weekly kills fell below last years’ supplies and have failed to recover since then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tightening in supply has seen some level of price positivity with factory quotes holding this week and rising last week which has been seen as a positive for farmers finishing cattle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It remains to be seen if large cow kills will continue into the second half of the year however, with pressure on grass growth and concerns from some dairy farmers around stocking rates, more non performing cows could well be culled off adding further to cull cow numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n