NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE	Release Date
March 2010	6 May 2010
April 2010	7 June 2010
May 2010	7 July 2010
June 2010	6 August 2010

INTRODUCTION

This publication presents statistics on livestock slaughterings and meat production. These statistics are based on a monthly collection from abattoirs and other major slaughtering establishments. More detailed information on this series can be obtained by referring to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) quarterly publication, Livestock Products, Australia (cat. no. 7215.0).

Additional time series spreadsheets containing state/territory and national data are available from the Downloads tab for this publication. These spreadsheets contain original, seasonally adjusted and trend estimates for slaughtering and meat production for bulls, bullocks and steers, cows and heifers, cattle (excluding calves), calves, sheep, lambs and pigs.

The ABS welcomes any comments from readers regarding the usefulness, range and quality of the statistics presented in this publication. Comments can be forwarded to: The Environment and Agriculture Business Statistics Centre, Australian Bureau of Statistics, GPO Box 66, Hobart TAS 7001. Alternatively, email <agriculture.statistics@abs.gov.au> or phone (03) 6222 5846.


INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.



SUMMARY COMMENTARY


LIVESTOCK

• The trend estimate for cattle slaughterings in February 2010 decreased for the seventh consecutive month, down to 604 thousand.
• In February 2010, sheep slaughterings were 689 thousand, a decrease of 26% from February 2009.
• The trend estimate for lamb slaughterings fell in February 2010 to 1.5 million, a 14% decrease from February 2009.
• In February 2010, pig slaughterings remained steady at 380 thousand.

LIVESTOCK SLAUGHTERED, Australia - February 2010
	Original	Seasonally Adjusted	Trend
	no.	no.	no.
Cattle (excl. calves)	590 259	608 843	604 488
Calves	32 426	74 972	71 752
Sheep	729 649	662 703	688 997
Lambs	1 522 784	1 541 374	1 533 025
Pigs	348 502	379 276	379 802

MEAT

• The trend estimate for beef production in February 2010 declined for the eighth consecutive month, down to 165 thousand tonnes.
• Mutton production in February 2010 continued to decline, down to 15 thousand tonnes, a decrease of 24% from February 2009.
• In February 2010, the trend estimate for lamb production decreased for the sixth consecutive month, down to 32 thousand tonnes.
• Pig meat production remained steady in February 2010 at 27 thousand tonnes.

MEAT PRODUCED, Australia - February 2010
	Original	Seasonally Adjusted	Trend
	t	t	t
Beef	160 497	163 596	164 572
Veal	2 304	3 537	3 460
Mutton	15 347	14 219	14 672
Lamb	32 953	32 607	32 179
Pig meat	25 043	27 647	27 431