UK sheepmeat production declined for the month of June when compared with last year, however it is up on the year to date by 11%.
This is according to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), which said that data collected by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) shows that the UK produced 20,300t of sheepmeat in June; this was 200t less than in June 2021.
However, sheepmeat production to date this year stands at 132,800t, which is up 11% on 2021.
Looking at the UK lamb kill for June, 895,200 head were processed, which is a 2% decrease compared to June of last year and was the lowest kill for the month since 2018.
The AHDB said that for the first six months of 2022, clean sheep-slaughter figures stood at 5.64 million, which is 8% higher than in 2021.
Ewe kill figures for June stood at 90,000 head, which is an 8% jump on last year. The number of ewes processed to date this year at 578,400 head, is also up 11% or 57,500 head from 2021.
Average carcase weights for the month of June were 19.8kg/head, which is 100g above the five-year average for this time of year. This means reduced slaughter for June was the main driver for the year-on-year drop in production levels, the AHDB said.
