September 4, 2009
German beef production down in 2009
Germany's beef production during the first half of 2009 was down 3 percent to 563,000 tonnes hundredweight (cwt) on-year, the result of lower carcase weights and reduced young bull throughput.
Cattle slaughter decreased by 2 percent for the same period. The United States Department of Agriculture has projected German beef production will fall 2 percent in the 2009 calendar year, with slaughter estimated to decline by the same magnitude.
In contrast, pork production increased 2 percent to 3.8 million tonnes cwt over the first half of 2009, while chicken was up 1.6 percent to 620,000 tonnes.
