News Meat
Empty slaughter hooks express themselves in German meat production
German meat production suffered a major blow in the first half of 2022. Pork production in particular has taken a turn, but there is also considerably less beef...
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Total production of beef, pork, sheep, goat, horse, poultry and chicken meat fell by 7,9% to below 3,5 million tonnes. The driver of the contraction is pork production, which fell by approximately 10% to 2,3 million tons. This is the lowest level since 2006.
The decline is not a big surprise, given that the slaughter figures are considerably lower this year. In recent summer months, pig slaughter figures also showed a further decline, indicating that a greater contraction in meat production is in the offing. Many German pig farmers stopped farming in the past year due to an aging population and disappointing yields.
Beef and poultry
Beef production is also under pressure. Destatis reports a decline of 9,1% to 476.000 tons. Although animal numbers are under pressure, the decline may have been exacerbated by the sharply increased milk price. After all, this does not motivate dairy farmers to take cows to the slaughterhouse.
Compared to the major decline in pork and beef production, poultry meat production is remarkably stable, with a minimal contraction of 0,2% to 771.600 tons.