ABS slaughter data released last week has confirmed what most in the beef industry suspected, that due to the widespread drought the national cattle herd has moved into a liquidation phase.
With 48 percent considered as the tipping point, the past two months of ABS data has revealed the female portion of the total cattle kill has now exceeded this level.
While ABS March 2018 data shows a split only marginally above, at 48.5 percent, its April 2018 data shows a huge jump in the female kill to 52.6pc of a monthly kill of 617,600 adult cattle.
If the MLA’s weekly slaughter data is seen as a reliable guide ABS’s May figure should further rise to near 53.5pc which would be one of the higher numbers ever recorded.
With most cow beef packed as 90CL lean for the US market, imported US prices were said to be generally steady this past week on limited inquiries from US end users, but also reduced NZ offerings and reluctant Australian packers to accept lower offers.