April 14, 2011
 

South Korean cattle slaughter decreases

South Korean cattle slaughter which took place in February plummeted to its lowest level in seven years, at 33,125 head which is a 61% decrease from January and 17% less than the same period in the previous year.

The steep fall in slaughter levels during the first two months of 2011 has largely been due to a contraction in female throughput, declining 32% on year. Male slaughter for the same period only decreased 5%.

Korea has been battling with Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) since November last year. The Korean government reported this week that the spreading of the disease had ceased, with the last case reported on February 25. Since the commencement of the outbreak, infections were discovered at 150 different farms, with a total of 150,871 cattle culled.

The Korean herd totalled 3,277,000 head in the first quarter of 2011, down 2% on the December 2010 quarter, but up 4% on the same quarter last year.