Livestock Products, Australia

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Quarterly statistics on livestock slaughtered and meat production

Reference period
September 2022
Released
17/11/2022

Key statistics

In seasonally adjusted terms for the September 2022 quarter:

  • Red meat production increased 3.4%
  • Chicken meat production increased 2.9%

Livestock products (seasonally adjusted)

Cattle

  • Cattle slaughtered in the September 2022 quarter increased 1.9% to 1.5 million.
  • Beef production in the September 2022 quarter increased 2.3% to 475,628 tonnes.   

 

 

 

Sheep

  • Sheep slaughtered in the September 2022 quarter decreased 5.2% to 1.7 million.
  • Mutton production in the September 2022 quarter decreased 2.2% to 45,057 tonnes.

 

Lambs

  • Lambs slaughtered in the September 2022 quarter increased 15.3% to 5.9 million.
  • Lamb meat production in the September 2022 quarter increased 10.5% to 145,106 tonnes.

 

Pigs

  • Pigs slaughtered in the September 2022 quarter increased 0.8% to 1.4 million.
  • Pig meat production in the September 2022 quarter increased 1.6% to 109,646 tonnes.

 

Chickens

  • Chickens slaughtered in the September 2022 quarter increased 1.0% to 178 million. 
  • Chicken meat production in the September 2022 quarter increased 2.9% to 346,882 tonnes. 

Gross value of livestock (original)

  • The gross value of cattle and calves slaughtered increased 2.5% to $3.9 billion.
  • The gross value of sheep and lambs slaughtered decreased 2.8% to $1.3 billion. 
  • The gross value of pigs slaughtered increased 1.1% to $413 million. 
  • The gross value of poultry slaughtered increased 14.6% to $856 million.

Changes in this and forthcoming issues

Suspension of trend estimates

The trend series attempts to measure underlying behaviour in livestock slaughter (including poultry), meat production and wool receivals data.  In the short term, this measurement may be affected by changes to regular patterns in livestock slaughterings, meat production and wool receivals arising from continuing COVID-19 restrictions, as well as changes in overall environmental conditions.  If the trend estimates were to be calculated without fully accounting for these factors, they would likely provide a misleading view of underlying behaviour in livestock slaughter, meat production and wool receivals.

It may be some time before the underlying trend can be estimated accurately.  The livestock slaughtering and meat production trend series were therefore suspended from the March 2020 reference quarter, and poultry slaughtering and meat production and wool receivals trend series suspended from the June 2020 reference quarter.  These trend series will be reinstated when more certainty emerges in the underlying trend for these series.

For more detail on trend estimates, please refer to the ABS Feature Article: When it's Not "Business-as-Usual": Implications for ABS Time Series.

Extraordinary annual timeseries review

An extraordinary annual timeseries review was undertaken prior to the release of the September 2022 quarter publication and new forward factors calculated for use from the September 2022 quarter onward. Each series was individually assessed to determine how observation from the previous year should be treated in estimating the seasonal factors used to produce the current end of the seasonally adjusted series. This process has ensured disruption to series caused by COVID-19 does not unduly affect estimates.

Revisions to the seasonally adjusted series as a result of the review are likely to be larger than the revisions historically observed each quarter prior to September 2020 when concurrent adjustment was used. From the September 2020 quarter, a forward factor method has been used to ensure seasonal factors are not distorted for industries affected by COVID-19 impacts. Series produced from forward factors have used static seasonal factor estimates for the previous year. The review has updated these seasonal factor estimates by incorporating relevant information from the previous year's observations. When concurrent adjustment is used, revisions to the seasonally adjusted estimates will typically be smaller because seasonal factor estimates are updated quarterly on the basis of the addition of just one extra data point.

Further information on the seasonal adjustment methods applied to livestock and poultry slaughtering and meat production statistics can be found in the Methodology section of this publication.

Cessation of the Wool Purchases, Receivals and Sales Survey and data release (Table 16)

The ABS is partnering with industry and other stakeholders to progressively modernise the ABS' agricultural statistics program through a co-design approach to produce agricultural statistics using new data sources and methods. 

The ABS has reviewed the use of statistics produced from the Wool Purchases, Receivals and Sales Survey (previously published quarterly in Table 16 of Livestock Products, Australia) within the wool industry and by government.  This review considered how existing data sources could be used to produce official wool statistics, with the view of reducing survey reporting burden on agricultural businesses.

The ABS has now decided to cease running the Wool Purchases, Receivals and Sales Survey and publishing the subsequent data release in the Livestock Products, Australia publication (Table 16).  Wool Levy Payer data, sourced from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, will be used as a replacement data source for wool volume and value data feeding into the ABS' Value of Agricultural Commodities Produced and National Accounts collections.

Data relating to wool production can be sourced from the Australian Wool Testing Authority.

If you have any questions or feedback regarding this review, please get in touch by email: agriculture.statistics@abs.gov.au.

Data downloads

The ABS will no longer publish Table 16 as part of this publication. Please see the Changes in this and forthcoming issues for further information.

Data files

Data Cubes

Gross value of livestock slaughtered

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 7215.0.

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