There are approximately 3.3m head of cattle slaughtered each year in France, making up a total of 1.2m tonnes of carcases. This makes France the 6th largest beef producer in the world and the largest in the EU.

According to FranceAgriMer, a government agricultural and sea products company, 20% (240,000t) of this beef is destined for export.

Operating this level of production requires a network of 240 slaughterhouses across the entire country.

Boning hall

As part of the Sommet Elevage, which took place in France this week, the Irish Farmers Journal visited one of these 240 slaughterhouses; the Gevaudan slaughterhouse in the Village of Antrenas in the south of France. The Languedoc Lozere Viande boning facility also operates alongside this slaughterhouse.

The entire facility employs 70 to 80 people, slaughtering 7,147 cattle and 3,182 calves each year, and boning out over 35t of meat per week, both from the adjoining slaughterhouse and from beef, lamb and pork taken in from other slaughtering facilities.

The process

After slaughtering, carcases are chilled for 24 hours until they reach 7°C. These carcases move to further cold stores until they reach 2°C and are ready for cutting.

Carcases are then split into forequarters and hindquarters, and a team of butchers bones out each piece of meat, using weighing scales and camera machines for assistance with some cuts.

Once butchered, each cut of meat is then packed, boxed and labelled, before storing at -40°C first and then -20°C until ready for delivery.

Manufacturing beef is taken from animals between six and 12 years of age, while prime cuts are taken from animals anywhere up until six years of age.

The optimum fat content of the beef is 15%, lower than would be desired for Irish and UK markets. No male beef is consumed in France and all bull beef is therefore exported out of the country, primarily to Italy.

For more on the French beef sector, keep up to date with the Irish Farmers Journal in print and online and watch the video above.

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Watch: inside the gates of a French export centre