The cow cull in New Zealand declined 23.3% in week 39 of their season at the beginning of July.

Weekly slaughters totalled 12,139 head, down from the 15,835 head slaughtered a week earlier and 7.5% behind the same week last year.

Cumulative slaughters for the season are now at 971,278 head, down 2.3% from the 993,929 head slaughtered by the same point last year.

Irish cow slaughters

Irish cow slaughters have also eased back, with new figures from the Department of Agriculture showing a 0.6% reduction compared with the previous week; from 7,546 head down to 7,504.

Last week’s slaughters were 13.3% ahead of the same week compared with last year, putting the cumulative total for the year to date at 186,961 head, up 3.1% on the 181,377 head slaughtered by the same point last season.

Whereas in the UK cow slaughters increased again in June totalling 45,870 head, increasing by 19.5% compared with June 2015.

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