DECEMBER KEY TREND FIGURES

	Sep 2016	Dec 2016	Sep '16 to Dec '16	Dec'15 to Dec'16
Livestock (no.)
Cattle (excluding calves)	1 760 727	1 722 564	-2.2%	-18.4%
Calves	131 517	121 092	-7.9%	-18.4%
Sheep	1 685 281	1 535 861	-8.9%	-26.4%
Lambs	5 626 053	5 670 613	0.8%	-2.8%
Pigs	1 277 688	1 279 504	0.1%	3.8%
Chickens	162 763 878	161 942 564	-0.5%	5.9%

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Livestock products (t)
Beef	508 879	498 842	-2.0%	-16.1%
Veal	6 007	5 656	-5.8%	-14.3%
Mutton	41 109	37 667	-8.4%	-24.6%
Lamb	126 888	128 951	1.6%	-0.2%
Pig meat	97 233	97 790	0.6%	4.8%
Total red meat	780 116	768 905	-1.4%	-12.0%
Chicken meat	304 699	308 722	1.3%	9.2%
Brokers and dealers receivals of taxable wool	91 772	93 274	1.6%	5.2%

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Source(s): Livestock Products, Australia (cat. no. 7215.0)

Source(s): Livestock Products, Australia (cat. no. 7215.0)

KEY POINTS

Livestock slaughtering and meat production quarterly trend movements for December 2016:

• Cattle slaughter decreased 38,200 head or 2% for the quarter ending December 2016 compared with September 2016 and decreased by 389,300 head or 18% year-on-year.
• The number of calves slaughtered for the quarter ending December 2016 decreased by 10,400 head or 8% compared to the previous quarter and was down 27,300 head or 18% year-on-year.
• Sheep slaughter for the quarter ending December 2016 decreased by 149,400 head or 9% compared with September 2016 and by 550,300 head or 26% year-on-year.
• Lamb slaughters increased 44,600 head or 1% for the quarter ending December 2016. Compared with December 2015, slaughters decreased by 161,500 head or down 3%.
• Pig slaughter increased by marginally in the December 2016 quarter and increased by 46,900 head or 4% when comparing year-on-year.