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Slaughtering

Increased Irish cattle slaughtering 11 Mar 2010

In February, cattle slaughtering in North Ireland were up by nine per cent compared to February 2009.
Increased Irish cattle slaughtering
However, this increase was driven by a greater bull and cow kill, with a decline in the volume of steers and heifers slaughtered. The young bull kill was almost 6,000 head in February, or about one fifth of the prime cattle kill. In February 2009, it was only 11 per cent of the prime cattle kill.
 
With young bulls attracting a lower price than steers and heifers, this is having the affect of dragging down the average prime cattle price. The mature bull kill is also up significantly from last year with almost 1,000 head slaughtered in February.
 
The official EU category for a young bull is under 24 months and the increased number of mature bulls may be a reflection of farmers holding on to bulls for more than 24months.
 
The sheep kill in February was down by a quarter year-on-year. Over the 12 months to the end of February, the sheep kill was down 13%.
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