Inside beef slaughter
Exceptional peak in beef slaughter in July
Normally, the number of cattle slaughters decreases in the summer months. While this is largely the case, there was an almost inexplicable spike in week 28, mid-July. With a (slightly) rising milk price and increasing production, this seems a strange phenomenon, so we asked the sector for its opinion.
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In week 28, almost 13.000 cattle were slaughtered, more than 4000 more than in the same week last year and 2.000 more than the 5-year average. It seems like an inexplicable peak. The other weeks of July (weeks 27, 29 and 30) are relatively stable.
Corona crisis
Although there have been no closures in cattle slaughterhouses, production is still affected by the corona crisis. Fewer production cows were reportedly purchased during the corona period, but this now appears to be increasing again. The peak in week 28 is probably also due to the replacement of cows with new arrivals, which means that some of them are sent to slaughter. It remains unclear why this happens specifically in that week, most likely it also has to do with the drought.
Week 27 is also ahead of the 11.359-year average and the 5 average with 2019 cattle. In this week the increase does not seem to be appropriate, this is expected to have the same reason as for week 28.
Stable gradient
The other weeks are relatively stable. In week 29, the number of cows slaughtered goes into a 'free fall'. About 4.000 fewer animals are slaughtered than in the previous week. This brings the slaughter figures back to a reasonable level. The number here meets a small peak from 2019 and dips just below the 5-year average of 8.981 pieces.
In week 30, the slaughter numbers increase again to 9.986. In previous years this generally happened a week later, but given the leap year it can be explained. Normally week 30 is the 'low point', after which the number of slaughters increases again.