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Factories are growing increasingly concerned about the quality of cattle being presented for slaughter as the number of dairy-bred cattle surges.
Exclusive analysis by the Irish Farmers Journal reveals that 20% of all steers slaughtered so far in 2017 have graded O- or less, while 18% of heifers were O- or less. This is a 5% increase in the past two years.
These plainer quality carcases are also likely to be less suited to the higher value retail markets
In addition, carcase weight across all cattle types are down 4kg/head on average, with steer carcase weights down 5.4kg/head this year alone.
The trend is set to continue, with figures showing an ongoing increase in the dairy herd while suckler cow numbers trend down.
There has been a shift towards Angus and Hereford sires in the dairy herd, as well as a 27% increase in Jersey sires, albeit from a low base.
The number of Charolais cattle born this year has fallen by over 23,000 head or 7.6% from 2016.
Negative impact
The move is understood to be having a negative impact on processing efficiencies in factories and meat yield as increased throughput is required to maintain total beef output.
These plainer quality carcases are also likely to be less suited to the higher value retail markets.
Throughput at the factories is now running 6% or 74,757 head higher than last year. However, meat production is running just 4% higher.
There are fears factories will start imposing minimum carcase weights just three years after they brought in stringent upper carcase weights.
Angus and Hereford births increase over 60,000 in 2017
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