Beef production grows and sheep production falls during the first quarter in the EU

European Union (EU) beef production in the first three months of 2024 has grown by almost 60,000 tonnes (4%) compared to the first quarter of last year, with significant increases coming from Italy and Poland. Italian beef production has increased by 25,000 tonnes from 2023 to 161,000 tonnes, but remains 14% lower than the levels seen in 2022. Polish beef production, for its part, continues to grow from 2022 to 2023 , 16% more than last year to 159,000 tons. Germany, as the EU's second largest beef producer, reached a border of 2% (4,000 tonnes) in the year to date of 2023-24, to stand at 256,000 tonnes. France remains the largest beef producer in the EU, with 327,000 tonnes in the first quarter of 2024. France also saw the largest production decline of 8,200 tonnes compared to 2023, AHDB reports. Regarding the production of sheep meat, it totaled 95,000 t in the EU during the first quarter of the year. It represents 4% less than in 2023, with large decreases in production in two ...