UK figures supplied by Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

Irish figures courtesy of Central Statistics Office of Ireland (CSO).

All figures expressed as ‘000 head

Table 1: UK monthly slaughter estimates

February 2007

Monthly estimates of the number of cattle, sheep and pigs slaughtered for meat in the United Kingdom are given in the table below. They are shown in statistical months.

 

                                     December 2006          January 2007        February 2007
                                         4 weeks                     5 weeks                      4 weeks

Steers                                    79                             99                               84

Heifers                                   64                             84                               70

Young Bulls                           18                             23                               19

Cows and Adult Bulls            35                             52                               45  

Calves                                    3                              3                                 2

Other Sheep and Lambs      1139                        1147                             905

Ewes and Rams                    201                           207                             173

Clean Pigs                            694                           831                             719

Sows and Boars                     14                           19                              16

 

• Livestock slaughtered under the Older Cattle Disposal Scheme are excluded.

Table 2: Irish Livestock Slaughterings

February 2007

 

                                            Cattle                      Sheep                        Pigs

February 2006                      137.7                        202.6                        205.6

February 2007                      143.9                        174.1                         222.4

% change                             +4.5%                     -14.1%                       +8.2%

Jan-Feb 2007/2006              +7.9%                     -13.3%                       +5.1%

 

 

Cattle slaughterings up 4.5% in February

 

The number of cattle slaughtered in February 2007 was 4.5% higher than in

February 2006. See Table.

A comparison of February 2007 and 2006 figures shows that:

- Sheep slaughterings decreased by 14.1%.

- Pig slaughterings increased by 8.2%.

The number of cattle slaughterings in January-February 2007 was 7.9% higher than the corresponding 2006 figure. Over the same period there was a decrease of 13.3% in sheep slaughterings and an increase of 5.1% in pig slaughterings.

EU-25 sheep slaughtering figures between the periods January to December 2005 and 2006 decreased 4.6%. Spain, Greece and France recorded decreases of 12.9%, 1.3% and 1.1% respectively. The United Kingdom recorded an increase of 0.8 %.