Fed: Drought forcing numbers to offload cattle: ABS
New figures suggest the drought is forcing farmers to send more cattle to slaughterand is hitting sheep numbers.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics' quarterly livestock figures show cattle slaughternumbers up 12.9 per cent in the June quarter.
More than two million cattle were sent to slaughter, with a sharp increase in the numberof cows and heifers sent to abattoirs.
The increase in slaughter numbers boosted the total amount of beef production by 14.5per cent to over 532,000 tonnes.
The bureau has also found sheep slaughter numbers jumped 5.9 per cent for the period,up more than 200,000 to 3.5 million.
For the past three quarters sheep slaughter numbers had been falling as farmers kepttheir older animals for wool production.
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KEYWORD: LIVESTOCK (CANBERRA)
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