December 3, 2009

Argentina cattle slaughter set to match 1978 record

Argentina is set to match the 1978 record of 16 million cattle slaughtered this year as ranchers continue to thin herds, the beef industry chamber known as Ciccra said in a report Wednesday (December 2).

Between January and October, 13.7 million cattle were slaughtered, up 10 percent from the same period a year earlier, Ciccra said.

Both domestic consumption and exports shot up due to the higher output. Exports during the first 10 months of the year totalled 476,762 tonnes, the highest amount seen in the last four years.

Domestic consumption rose 5 percent on the year to 2.45 million tonnes, Ciccra said. Argentines are among the world's top beef eaters, with per capita consumption of over 73 kilograms a year. That's up 4 percent from last year and is one of the highest levels seen in the last 15 years.

However, the high output this year is expected to lead to shortages and higher prices in 2010, Ciccra said. Those higher prices will likely lead ranchers to withhold more breeding cattle and further tighten supply through 2011 and 2012.

There was a disturbingly high level of female cattle slaughtered, which indicates that ranchers are thinning herds. During the first 10 months of 2009, over 50 percent of the cattle sent to slaughter were females, with the rate needed to maintain herd sizes estimated at about 43 percent.

The herd culling has been going on uninterrupted for three years, according to Ciccra.

Based on the latest foot-and-mouth disease vaccination records, the country's herd fell 5 percent to 57.7 million cattle in 2008 from the previous year. Data from 2009 is not yet available.