The significant fall-off in sheep slaughterings this year has been reflected in the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The CSO data for the year to the end of the July shows that the sheep kill has fallen by 8.5% compared with the first seven months of last year.

The total sheep kill for the period from January to July fell to 1.6m head. This is a reduction of 152,000 head.

Sheep slaughterings in July 2024 were approximately 248,000 head, down by nearly 1,000 head when compared with the same month in 2023.

In contrast, the cattle kill has been relatively stable.

Cattle slaughterings in the year to July 2024 are estimated to be approximately 1.1m head, an increase of more than 17,000 head (+1.6%) when compared with the same period in 2023.

Analysis

However, an analysis of the data for July 2024 compared with July 2023 shows that cattle slaughterings grew by 8.5%.

The number of cattle slaughtered in July 2024 grew by approximately 12,000 head to almost 157,000 head when compared with July 2023.

Pig slaughterings were close to 1.9m head for January to July 2024, an increase of more than 9,000 head or 0.5% on the same period in 2023.

The number of pigs slaughtered in July 2024 increased by more than 33,000 head or 13% to almost 295,000 head when compared with July 2023.