Cattle slaughter steadies in May, but still historically high

Australian adult cattle slaughter in May was steady with the same time last year, at 829,587 head, although remained 13% above the five-year monthly average (Australian Bureau of Statistics). Of this, females made up around 53% of the national kill, which was slightly (one percentage point) higher than May last year, but up eight percentage points on the five-year average.

At a state level, Queensland slaughter was unchanged, at 397,844 head, while NSW totalled 168,535 head (up 1% year-on-year) and Victoria registered 168,607 head (back 1%). SA slaughter lifted 6% compared to year-ago levels, to 42,246 head, however WA was 4% lower, at 31,499 head. Tasmanian cattle slaughter held firm in May, with 20,856 head processed.

With May slaughter volumes relatively unchanged and average cattle carcase weights also firm (at 276kg/head), Australian beef production consequently saw very little movement compared to the previous year, totalling 228,893 tonnes cwt. Queensland production lifted marginally (1%), to 113,886 tonnes cwt, while NSW was steady at 46,560 tonnes cwt and Victoria eased 2%, to 43,085 tonnes cwt. SA gained 8% however, at 11,873 tonnes cwt, while WA eased 8%, to 7,743 tonnes cwt and Tasmania produced 5,745 tonnes cwt of beef.