Sheep throughput at Irish factories decreased by 9.7% in the first six months of the year compared to the same period in 2023.

New figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that 1.3m sheep were sent to factories in the first half of the year. This number is down just under 150,000 head compared to the same period in 2023.

There was a 19% drop in the sheep kill for the month of June when compared to June 2023.

Cattle

The CSO data shows that the cattle kill was up marginally, by 0.6%, for the first six months of 2024 compared to 2023.

Demand for cattle has been strong this year, with more cattle killed in January, February and April 2024 compared to the same months of 2023.

To date this year, 917,000 cattle have gone through factories. Compared to the end of June 2023, this figure is up 5,000 head.

Pigs

Analysis of the data shows that the number of pigs slaughtered in 2023 is back 1.4% for the year to date.

For the month of June, the pig kill dropped by 10.9% compared to the same month last year. This is a drop of 30,000 head to 244,000.