NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE	Release Date
August 2010	8 October 2010
September 2010	9 November 2010
October 2010	7 December 2010
November 2010	17 January 2011

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 5939.


CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE

As a result of the ongoing quality review of this collection and following consultation with key users, a new methodology and revised definitions have been adopted for producing estimates of livestock slaughtering and meat production. For further information please refer to paragraphs 6 - 10 of the Explanatory Notes.


INQUIRIES

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


SUMMARY COMMENTARY


LIVESTOCK

• In July 2010, the trend estimate for cattle slaughterings continued to increase, up 1% from June 2010 to 654 thousand.
• Compared to June 2010, the trend estimate for sheep slaughterings in July 2010 remained relatively steady at 473 thousand, but was still down 40% from July 2009.
• Lamb slaughterings in July 2010 increased by 2% from June 2010.
• In July, the trend estimate for pig slaughterings continued to increase, up 1% from June 2010 to 393 thousand.

LIVESTOCK SLAUGHTERED(a), Australia - July 2010
	Original	Seasonally Adjusted	Trend
	no.	no.	no.
Cattle(b)	670 446	651 500	653 741
Calves	83 154	67 949	69 415
Sheep	328 565	515 589	472 607
Lambs	1 439 845	1 659 397	1 657 714
Pigs	409 018	401 843	392 539
(a) A new methodology and revised definitions have been adopted for producing estimates of livestock slaughtering and meat production. For further details refer to the Explanatory Notes.
(b) Excludes calves

MEAT

• In July 2010, the trend estimate for beef production rose 1% from June 2010, to 181 thousand tonnes.
• Compared to June 2010, the trend estimate for mutton production remained steady at 11 thousand tonnes, but was down 33% from July 2009.
• In July 2010, lamb production increased 2% from June 2010.
• Pig meat production continued to increase, up 1% from June 2010 and 7% from July 2009.

MEAT PRODUCED(a), Australia - July 2010
	Original	Seasonally Adjusted	Trend
	t	t	t
Beef	185 470	179 168	180 740
Veal	4 304	3 934	4 173
Mutton	7 449	11 858	11 077
Lamb	31 331	36 693	36 767
Pig meat	30 706	29 836	28 896
(a) A new methodology and revised definitions have been adopted for producing estimates of livestock slaughtering and meat production. For further details refer to the Explanatory Notes.