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Beef market update: Beef from the dairy herd continued to bolster domestic supply in 2024
Wednesday, 12 March 2025
Key points:
- Over half of all cattle and calves slaughtered in GB in 2024 were born to the dairy herd.
- The proportion of prime cattle supply made up of dairy beef continues to grow, sitting at 37% for 2024.
BCMS data shows that 2.3 million head of cattle and calves were slaughtered in GB in 2024. This number includes animals of all age, type and sex. Of this total figure, 52% of cattle slaughtered in 2024 were born to the dairy herd, whilst the remainder were suckler born.
Prime cattle supply
In 2024, 1.5 million cattle aged 12-30 months were slaughtered in GB.
Suckler-bred cattle made up the largest proportion of prime cattle supply in 2024, by type, accounting for 56%. However, we have seen the proportion of suckler-bred cattle in slaughter totals steadily decline over the last ten years, in line with the long term decline in the population of the GB cattle herd.
Dairy-beef continued to grow its share of prime cattle supply, accounting for 37% of cattle slaughtered age 12-30 months in 2024. This continues trends we saw last year, where dairy-beef maintains prime beef supply, counteracting declines in both suckler beef and dairy bull calves.
Source: BCMS, AHDB calculations
Key breeds
Aberdeen Angus X cattle made up the greatest proportion of total GB slaughter for the second consecutive year in 2024. Breaking this down further by type we can see that 57% of these animals were dairy-beef, with the remainder suckler-born.
Limousin X cattle were the second highest proportion of GB slaughter, with 80% of these cattle suckler-bred. In contrast, we saw 84% of British Blue X cattle slaughtered in 2024 were dairy-beef animals.
Proportion of the top five beef breeds by type, 2024
Source: BCMS, AHDB calculations
These differences highlight the variation between breeds, with some breeds still heavily reliant on the suckler supply whilst others are much more prominent in dairy beef. This difference likely reflects the differences in qualities between breeds and how this relates to the objective of the producer, with dairy beef supply chains often prioritising traits such as easy calving on the dairy farm, whereas suckler producers may prioritise growth and management traits.
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