NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE	Release Date
December 2009	3 February 2010
January 2010	4 March 2010
February 2010	8 April 2010
March 2010	6 May 2010
April 2010	7 June 2010
May 2010	7 July 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 now 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

• In November 2009, the trend estimate for cattle slaughterings contined to decline, down to 622 thousand.
• Sheep slaughterings in November 2009 contined to fall for the eighth consecutive month, down to 740 thousand.
• In November 2009, lamb slaughterings declined 1% to 1.7 million.
• Pig slaughterings remained steady at 388 thousand in November 2009.

LIVESTOCK SLAUGHTERED, Australia - November 2009
	Original	Seasonally Adjusted	Trend
	no.	no.	no.
Cattle (excl. calves)	626 285	604 722	621 922
Calves	39 018	64 965	63 274
Sheep	848 289	735 007	739 896
Lambs	1 804 686	1 692 128	1 741 403
Pigs	368 023	390 740	388 488

MEAT

• In November 2009, the trend estimate for beef production declined for the fifth consecutive month, down 2% from October 2009.
• Mutton production in November 2009 continued a trend down since May 2008.
• In November 2009, lamb production remained steady at 36 thousand tonnes.
• At 28 thousand tonnes, pig meat production remained steady in November 2009.

MEAT PRODUCED, Australia - November 2009
	Original	Seasonally Adjusted	Trend
	t	t	t
Beef	170 667	162 846	168 851
Veal	2 673	3 351	3 229
Mutton	19 510	16 381	16 354
Lamb	37 826	35 384	36 344
Pig meat	26 158	27 988	28 003