There is growing concern that the national slaughter age reduction won’t make the progress first envisaged as part Ireland’s emissions targets by 2030.

Ireland has to reduce its agricultural emissions by 25% relative to the baseline figure of 2018 emissions.

The Teagasc Marginal Abatement Cost Curve (MACC) outlines how different measures within agriculture can cut emissions, including reduced age of slaughtering, changing fertiliser type, low-emission slurry spreading, feed additives and liming.

Reducing slaughter age is the number one measure and the most impactful one, providing a reduction of 785kt CO2e under scenario three and pathway two of the Teagasc MACC. Reaching this involves lowering the average age of slaughter of prime cattle to 23 months.

With six years left to hit the target, this plan now looks very unlikely to happen given the progress to date. The most recent figures from Teagasc are now pointing to the reduction coming under 500kt CO2e, leaving a deficit of 285t to be made up from other technologies.

The most recent figures from Teagasc show that the average slaughter age of the prime cattle kill has actually increased from 26 months in 2018 to 26.1 months; a three-day increase on 2023.

A key driver of this has been the massive reduction in bulls being killed on an annual basis. In 2018 there were 185,006 bulls killed. This has dropped by 80,768 in just five years, to 104,238.

The average age of bulls killed in 2023 was 19.1 months, while the average age of bullocks was 27.3 months. Wet weather and a poor grazing year in 2023 are also being highlighted as factors in the lack of progress. There has also been some criticism of processors about not incentivising a younger slaughter age as part of their pricing structure.