Figures published in the Department of Agriculture AIM bovine statistics report for 2022 show over 2.47m bovines moving permanently off farm in 2022.
In excess of 1.9m of these were drafted for slaughter, with this figure further broken down into 1.82m animals slaughtered in a Department of Agriculture-approved slaughter plant and 90,839 sent to a local authority-approved slaughter plant or abattoir.
There were 286,293 animals exported live, while the number of on-farm deaths was recorded at 243,644 head. This excludes stillborn calves, which totalled 34,755 head.
As can be expected, March and April were the busiest months for permanent animal movements off farms in 2022.
Table 1 details a breakdown of movements by month and type of movement.
June is the lowest month for cattle slaughterings and traditionally this has coincided with a seasonal price rise.
However, the trade continues to veer further away from the traditional patterns due to heavy losses faced by winter finishers in recent years.
Peak calving
An increasingly condensed calving pattern, whereby 49% of all calf births are now registered in February and April, underpins peak live export activity in March and April and also contributes to a spike in on-farm deaths in March and April.
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