Trends in livestock slaughtered and meat produced
Cattle
Compared to November 2019:
- Cattle slaughtered increased 0.6% to 743,000 head
- Beef production increased 0.5% to 208,800 tonnes
Compared to December 2018:
- Cattle slaughtered increased 9.1%
- Beef production increased 7.4%
Calves
Compared to November 2019:
- Calves slaughtered decreased 0.3% to 46,300 head
- Veal production increased 1.7% to 2,500 tonnes
Compared to December 2018:
- Calves slaughtered increased 4.3%
- Veal production increased 31.4%
Sheep
Compared to November 2019:
- Sheep slaughtered increased 3.0% to 842,200 head
- Mutton production increased 2.9% to 20,900 tonnes
Compared to December 2018:
- Sheep slaughtered increased 6.3%
- Mutton production increased 11.6%
Lamb
Compared to November 2019:
- Lambs slaughtered increased 1.8% to 1.80 million head
- Lamb production increased 1.6% to 42,100 tonnes
Compared to December 2018:
- Lambs slaughtered decreased 3.4%
- Lamb production decreased 0.1%
Pigs
Compared to November 2019:
- Pigs slaughtered increased 0.2% to 423,600 head
- Pork production increased 0.4% to 32,800 tonnes
Compared to December 2018:
- Pigs slaughtered decreased 5.0%
- Pork production decreased 5.7%
Bushfires
Recent bushfire activity in New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory has resulted in only minor disruption to ABS livestock data collection activities for this release. Quality assurance undertaken by the ABS confirmed that these disruptions have not resulted in any impacts to national Livestock statistics to date. Whilst it is expected that bushfire activity may have some impact on future Livestock estimates this activity is not observed in the December month estimates.