Cattle slaughter in New Zealand fell 8% in June compared with June 2008 to 230,821 head, with numbers falling across all categories.

However, slaughter between October 2008 and June 2009 has risen 4% compared with the same period last year to 2.3 million head. The main reason for this was a 31% increase in the slaughter of cows, totalling 756,296 head.

During the same nine-month period, New Zealand beef exports rose 6% to 302,257 tonnes. Export volume rose 7% to the US (150,386 tonnes) and 46% to Canada (26,684 tonnes). These higher volumes more than offset declines in exports to Japan (down 8% to 23,105 tonnes) and Korea (down 27% to 24,816 tonnes).

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