Brick said good pasture conditions in the lead-up to May was the main factor influencing cow slaughter rates, allowing dairy farmers to milk cows for a longer period than previous years, and leading to a wave of dairy cows booked for slaughter in May.
"Dairy cows finally came out of the woodwork in dramatic fashion through May," Brick said. "The favourable early autumn weather conditions meant dairy cows were milked for longer than typical, causing this lagged spike in the cow slaughter. The improvement in farmgate dairy returns also meant there was less culling earlier in the season simply to ensure adequate cash flow."
The latest figures for the fortnight to May 6 show 63,103 cows were slaughtered in the North Island, 11 per cent more than the same period last year and more than any other year in more than a decade, AgriHQ said. Brick noted that one major company reported slaughtering more cattle in the week ending May 12 than any other week in its history, with nearby weeks similarly busy.
Still, he said slaughter prices didn't move too much in spite of the excess volumes of cattle coming off farms, with all classes of cattle either stable or eased less than 10 cents a kilogram.
For meat processors, the wave of demand for dairy cow slaughter means there is more than enough backlog of other cattle to work through, which will likely keep plants occupied through June, Brick said.
Slaughter figures for the full month of May are due to be released later this month.
