High Slaughter Boosts July Beef Production
AUSTRALIA - Australian beef and veal production during July was consistent with the very high months prior, with the 214,093 tonnes cwt up 20 per cent year-on-year and 18 per cent on the five-year average, boosted by significantly higher slaughter levels (Australian Bureau of Statistics).
17 September 2013
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Adult cattle slaughter for July totalled 759,036 head, up 12 per cent on the previous month and 24 per cent on the corresponding month last year, with the majority of states recording significant year-on-year increases. Queensland (381,109 head) slaughter figures were up 24 per cent , while NSW (166,551 head) and Victoria (135,048 head) rose 33 per cent and 29 per cent , respectively, year-on-year.
The number of female cattle killed (368,668 head) during July increased 36 per cent year-on-year, and consequently, cows and heifers contributed to 49 per cent of the total adult slaughter, compared with 44 per cent in July last year. Interestingly, July makes the fourth consecutive month when close to 50 per cent of the monthly adult kill was female – a sequence not seen since winter 2010. Male slaughter was also significantly greater in July, up 14 per cent year-on-year and 15 per cent on the five-year average, at 390,368 head, driven by the ongoing dry conditions in the north.
With a greater percentage of female and store cattle slaughtered in July compared with year-ago levels, average adult carcase weights were 3 per cent lower, at 277kg/head cwt.
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