The throughput of cattle to beef factories last week was back 5% on the corresponding period last year, figures from the Department of Agriculture show.
As of December 21, 2015, the national beef kill stood at 1.54m.
Total heifer throughput at the factories last week stood at 408,473 head, back 18,213 on the same period last year.
Looking at the young bull kill last week, it was back 18% on 2014 levels.
Total young bull throughput stood at 153,840 head, back 32,861 head on the 186,701 head that went to the factories last year.
Steer throughput is up 3% on the same time last year. For the week ending December 21, 2015, the cumulative steer kill stood at 627,050 head, up 19,576 on last year’s levels.
The bull kill is also back, with 22% fewer slaughtered compared to the corresponding period last year.
The cumulative cow kill is back 13% on the corresponding period in 2014. Figures from the Department show that the national cow kill stood at 318,079 on December 21, 2015.
Weekly beef kill differences
The weekly beef kill for the week commencing December 20, 2015, sits at 31,353 head. This is down 5% on the previous week.
The weekly steer kill is back 9% compared to the previous week. As of December 20, 11,126 head went to the factories.
Looking at the weekly heifer kill, it is down 2% (1,562 head) on the previous week as the previous weeks kill stood at 8,704 head.
Young bull throughput to factories last week was up 1% on the previous week. Some 5,579 head went to the factories last week.
The weekly bull throughput stood at 464 head last week, up 6% on the previous week while the cow kill stood at 5,514 head, back 9% on the previous week.
