October 22, 2009

Prime cattle slaughtering in the UK fell four percent on-year to 161,000 head in September, according to new figures from DEFRA.

Steer slaughter dropped six percent, with heifer throughputs down four percent and young bulls three-percent lower on the year.

For the first nine months of 2009, the industry has slaughtered 1.5 million head, similar to last year. Steers accounted for 47 percent of total slaughter, down three percent on-year, while heifer throughputs increased six percent to represent 39 percent of slaughters.

In addition, pig slaughter increased nearly two percent in September, with carcass weights reaching a record high of 79 percent. Pig production during the third quarter of 2009 reached 193,000 tonnes, up 10,000 tonnes from the same period last year. Pork production for the three quarters of 2009 amounted to 550,000 tonnes, just below last year's level.