Recent slaughter figures hide truth
Recent slaughter figures hide truth
BIG first-quarter rises in DEFRAs 2002 slaughter figures for both cattle and sheep mask a declining overall trend, says the Meat and Livestock Commission.
An upsurge in numbers was expected when compared with first-quarter 2001 figures, largely because foot-and-mouth movement restrictions resulted in a marketing standstill on many farms.
Overall GB cattle slaughterings were up by 5% in the first period of 2002, compared with the same time last year. But there has been a distinct change in the mix of cattle slaughtered.
The number of steers killed in January to March 2002 rose by 21%, while heifers fell by 8%. Duncan Sinclair, MLC beef economist, says that the decline in heifer slaughterings is partly due to farms restocking after F&M.
"Interestingly, steer marketing was also disrupted last year, with many store cattle kept on farms until the autumn before moving to finishers farms. Many of these would have normally been finished during the tail end of last year, but this was delayed."
Lamb slaughterings increased by 10% in the same period to 3.1m, but were 16% down on first-quarter 2000 figures.
Clean pig slaughterings in Jan-Mar 2002 were slightly up on first-quarter 2001 figures, but the underlying trend is one of an industry contracting. Recent figures show total pig numbers down by 19% to 5.7m, compared with two years ago.
Pig numbers killed in January this year fell by 8% compared with the same month last year and the recent weekly kill has been below 200,000 head. Sow culling has picked up to level at 7000/week as units clear out old sows that were kept last year during the F&M crisis. *