Last year’s lamb and sheep slaughter rates broke records according to the latest quarterly statistics on livestock slaughter and meat production from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Meat and Livestock Australia data shows 26.6 million lambs were slaughtered in the calendar year 2024 making it the largest number ever with sheep slaughter reaching 11.7 million head, the largest since 2006.
Total lamb production for the year reached 634,706 tonnes, six per cent above 2023 making 2024 the largest lamb production year.
Market Information Manager at MLA, Stephen Bignell said the record slaughter rates are due to a combination of a large national sheep flock with higher percentages of sheepmeat breeds being processed, and generally drier conditions seen in some states.
“In the past two years production has lifted by 18 per cent. This is due to genetic improvements in the flock but also the demographic shift towards sheepmeat and shedding breeds, which is driving fertility and thus leading to productivity gains in the national flock,” Mr Bignell said.
For the previous quarter to December 2024, mutton production hit 90,847 tonnes, which was the largest quarterly sheep production since 1997.
“Across the country towards the end of last year we saw mutton production soar,” Mr Bignell said.
“Favourable prices at the end of the year drove this increase. Lamb prices reached $10/kg while mutton was at 300-440c/kg, making it more desirable to process mutton as opposed to lambs for many producers.”
While the livestock industry experiences record slaughter rates for sheep and lamb, cattle female slaughter rates have eased.
Queensland had a 16 per cent lift in cattle slaughter rates from 2023 to 2024.
For Q4 last year, adult cattle slaughter reached 2.13m head, which was 16 per cent above the same quarter in 2023.
Over the whole year, 8.3 million cattle were processed, which was the largest throughput since 2019 and 18 per cent higher than 2023.
“Dry conditions across the southern band of the country have forced stronger turnoff across those states as producers move to de-stock by selling interstate or processing excess cattle.”
Despite 2024 slaughter being 10 per cent below the previous slaughter record, production last year reached record volumes. Over 2.57 tonnes of beef was produced, up 16 per cent on 2023, and enabling the record exports seen last year.
The average adult carcase weight (cwt) lifted 2.6kg from the previous quarter to 310.8kg cwt, although this was 2.8kg below December 2023.
A reduction in female turnoff is the reason for these lighter weights with female slaughter reduced 6 per cent and the female slaughter rate (FSR) down 52.2 per cent to 51.8 per cent.
