February 8, 2010

Australia beef production down 1.5% in 2009

Beef and veal production in Australia for the past calendar year dropped 1.5% to 2.13 million tonnes cwt, due to year-on-year contraction in adult cattle turnoff in both autumn and spring.

Seasonal conditions and previously poor breeding years reduced total adult slaughter for the year by 2.6% to 7.75 million head, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Adult female cattle slaughter for 2009 declined 1.4% on-year to 3.8 million head, despite a 9% on-year increase nationally during the first quarter of the year. The higher female cattle slaughter between January and March was largely due to a surge in turnoff in Victoria, especially of dairy cattle. However, female turnoff contracted significantly in spring, on the back of better seasonal conditions and lower overall herd numbers in southern Australia, with numbers in Victoria back 25% year-on-year.

Adult male cattle slaughter decreased 3.7% on-year to 3.94 million head, the second lowest annual total for the past decade. Queensland male slaughter decreased 2.3% to 2.13 million head – making up 54% of the national total.

Total calf slaughter for 2009 declined 4% to 781,000 head, with falls in New South Wales and Victoria offsetting increases across the remaining states.

However, the decline in annual slaughter of adult cattle was partially offset by a rise in average weights, up 0.8% year-on-year to 270.4kg per head, with averaged weights in Queensland the heaviest, increasing 1% to a record 293kg per head.