Irish beef: what's the current picture, and the outlook for 2021?

Fresh Whole Beef

Ireland

Published Feb 13, 2021

Tridge summary

Production Irish cattle slaughter (incl. cows and calves) reached 1.9 million head in 2020, up 2% from the year before, according to data from the Central Statistics Office. This contributed to a 2% rise in Irish beef production for the year, with 633,400 tonnes produced. Throughputs began the year in-line with 2019, before falling in the second quarter as COVID-19 disrupted abattoir operations and export opportunities.

Original content

Much of the overall annual rise in slaughter occurred in the third quarter. However, it should be noted that during Q3 in 2019, slaughter was significantly lower due to protests at abattoirs. Throughputs during Q3 2020 were actually relatively unchanged compared to Q3 2018. This seems to be the case for the year overall, in fact overall slaughter in 2020 was 0.7% lower than it was in 2018. For 2020, heifer and steer slaughter were 3% and 10% higher year-on-year respectively. Slaughter of bulls (including adult bulls) fell by 29% year-on-year. Reports suggest this is partly due to a shift by abattoirs away from young bull beef. Many bull finishers also reportedly faced delays in getting their animals slaughtered in 2019, and so have moved to producing animals as steers, partly explaining the rise in steer throughputs. Cow slaughter also rose by 6%, having been notably lower in 2019. Trade The quantity of Irish beef (including fresh, frozen and offal) exported globally during the ...

Source: Ahdb