Beef Kill: January factory cattle supply down by 26,000 head
Latest beef kill figures show that weekly kill numbers remained steady in January, with just over 30,000 cattle being slaughtered each week of the month.
In the same time last year, weekly factory supplies varied from 22,500 cattle to just under 39,000 cattle.
The cumulative beef kill-to-date this year is just over 145,000 (excluding veal), down 26,000 head on the same time last year.
The graph below shows weekly kill numbers for the past 12 weeks of this year versus the same time of last year:
As can be seen in the table above, weekly beef kill numbers have been remaining largely steady.
The table below gives a breakdown of weekly beef kill numbers by category for the week ending Sunday, February 1 versus the same week last year and the total beef kill this year versus last year:
| Animal Type | Week Starting 2026-01-26 | Equivalent Last Year | Cumulative 2026 | Cumulative 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Young Bulls: | 3,526 | 3,612 | 15,793 | 16,231 |
| Bulls: | 299 | 435 | 1,323 | 1,437 |
| Steers: | 9,707 | 12,968 | 49,133 | 58,537 |
| Cows: | 7,316 | 9,722 | 29,919 | 38,509 |
| Heifers: | 9,883 | 12,173 | 49,005 | 56,781 |
| Total: | 30,731 | 38,910 | 145,173 | 171,495 |
Beef prices have been in decline since late last year but have stabilised in the past few weeks, with price increases seen in some cow categories.
Click here to view the latest average factory beef pricing by category.
