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The number of sheep slaughtered decreased by 9.2% between January and November 2024 compared with the same period last year.
That’s according to the latest Central Statistics Office (CSO) data for livestock slaughterings, which shows that more than 268,000 fewer heads were slaughtered so far this year.
This brings the total to 2.6m sheep heads in the first 11 months of the year - 191,000 of those were in November, which is also down 34.9% from 293,400 head in November 2024.
This is the second month in a row that there has been a lower number of sheep slaughterings, with there being almost 20,000 fewer head between September and October also.
Other livestock
Meanwhile, pigs also saw a decrease in the number of slaughterings in November, down 3.6% to 296,000 head compared with the same month last year.
However, figures for the first 11 months of the year show that the number of pigs slaughtered is still up by 1%.
Similarly, the number of cows slaughtered is up 1.7% so far this year, yet there were 4.2% less cattle slaughterings in November 2024 compared with last year.
There were 181,600 heads of cattle slaughtered and 307,200 heads of pigs slaughtered last month.
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