Beef kill: 2025 heifer supply almost 24,000 above last year
This year's beef kill-to-date has seen strong heifer and bullock (steer) supplies with a reduction in the cow and young bull kills.
28,400 cattle were slaughtered in the week ending Sunday, June 8 - the week following the June Bank Holiday.
Supplies were on par with the same week of last year.
The cumulative kill-to-date this year, excluding veal, is just under 781,000 head of cattle, which is almost 18,000 head above the same time last year.
The table below details cattle supplies in the week ending Sunday, June 8, compared to the same week of last year, and the cumulative kill-to-date this year compared to last year:
| Category | Week end Sun, June 8 | Equivalent Last Year | Cumulative 2025 | Cumulative 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Young Bulls | 2,769 | 2,982 | 53,542 | 56,295 |
| Bulls | 683 | 680 | 11,164 | 12,005 |
| Steers | 10,252 | 9,587 | 288,157 | 276,846 |
| Cows | 6,755 | 7,427 | 176,042 | 189,783 |
| Heifers | 7,960 | 7,818 | 251,932 | 228,020 |
| Total | 28,419 | 28,494 | 780,837 | 762,949 |
As mentioned above, heifer supplies are up by almost 24,000 head on last year, with steer supplies up by over 11,000, while the cow kill down by almost 14,000 head.
Weekly supplies were in gradual decline but have remained relatively stable from the second week of May until now at 28-29,000 head/week.
The graph below shows how weekly beef kill numbers this year have compared to last year:
Irish beef prices paid to farmers have been in decline for the past two weeks despite the tight availability of cattle.
UK beef price has also been edging back, but industry sources have said as recently as this week that there is some level of expectation that the forecast reduced availability of cattle will help to sustain firm beef prices into the back end of the year.
Cattle prices have been performing very strongly this year, with a significant lift in price seen since the beginning of 2025.
