Cattle weights hit all time highs
17 February 2022
Key points:
- Cattle in Queensland averaged a record 326.5kg/head in the December 2021 quarter.
- Female slaughter rate hit 43.2% in quarter four of 2021, demonstrating the national herd rebuild is well underway.
- Lamb carcase weights for 2021 were 24.4/kg a head.
Cattle
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released its livestock slaughter and production figures for the fourth quarter of 2021. These results reinforce the strength of both the Australian cattle and sheep industries.
Record quarterly cattle carcase weights were reported in the fourth quarter of 2021, with adult cattle weighing in at 315.6kg/head on average in the three months to December. These weights can be attributed to the abundance of feed, coupled with the high proportion of steers being slaughtered and current high prices which incentivize additional weight gain. For the full year of 2021, cattle carcase weights averaged 312.6kg/head.
Meanwhile, at a state level, Queensland led the way with cattle weights. In the December quarter of 2021, cattle in Queensland weighed in at an average of 326.5kg/head– an all-time record. WA had the lightest cattle in the fourth quarter of 2021, with cattle averaging 288kg/head in the state.
These heavier weights are allowing the Australian cattle industry to produce more from less and is resulting in bigger meat cuts. However, it remains to be seen if these record carcase weights will continue through to the end of 2022, if the current La Niña weather pattern ends as predicted in May 2022.
Female slaughter rate
The female slaughter rate (FSR) measures the proportion of adult cattle being processed that are females. A FSR below 47% indicates that the herd is in a technical rebuild phase.
In the December quarter of 2021, the national FSR was 43.4% – indicating that the national herd is well and truly in a rebuild phase. The FSR for the whole year was 45.2% – higher than the December quarter, but still below the 47% needed to confirm rebuilding status. Victoria, WA and Tasmania still have FSRs above 50%.
Lamb and sheep
The ABS revised its sheep slaughter for the first three quarters of 2021, up by 10% or 352,000. As a result, national sheep slaughter of sheep finished the year at 5.8 million head.
Meanwhile, lamb slaughter was 20.8 million head in line with MLA’s October 2021 projections. The carcase weights of Australian lambs in the December quarter was 23.4kg/head – a full kilo lighter than the national average.
Lamb carcase weights were the lightest in Queensland and Tasmania, while SA and NSW produced the heaviest lambs in 2021, averaging 25.2kg/head and 25.6kg/head respectively.
