UK sheepmeat manufacturing for the month of September fell by 11% when in comparison with the identical interval in 2021, the newest Division for Surroundings, Meals and Rural Affairs (Defra) figures present.

Complete sheepmeat manufacturing for September got here to 21,400t, the Agriculture and Horticulture Improvement Board (AHDB) famous from the Defra knowledge.

In September, carcass weights witnessed little change, which meant the decline seen in manufacturing was all the way down to a diminished kill over the course of the month, in accordance with AHDB dairy and livestock analyst Freya Shuttleworth.

Moreover, the passing of Queen Elizabeth II throughout this time had an affect on manufacturing as kill patterns had been diminished over the extra financial institution vacation for her funeral.

bar chart showing monthly UK sheep meat production volumes
Supply: AHDB

Clear sheep slaughter was again practically 60,000 in comparison with August, with throughput for the month of September standing at 961,700.

September’s kill was additionally 99,400 decrease than in the identical month as final yr, the AHDB mentioned.

And, the grownup sheep kill was again too, by 8% (9,000 head), and in complete, tallied 102,000 head.

bar chart showing monthly UK clean sheep slaughter
Supply: AHDB

With that mentioned, UK sheepmeat manufacturing thus far (January to September 2022) is up 4% on final yr, regardless of the substantial hit in September.

The upper manufacturing thus far is all the way down to the rise in clear sheep and grownup throughput, that are up 3% and 5% respectively.

Carcass weights have remained regular at 19.7kg/head the AHDB mentioned that they’re solely 100g lighter than for a similar time final yr and are trending effectively above the five-year common.