June sees first drop for 2022 in annual lamb kill
Thursday, 14 July 2022
According to the latest Defra data, the UK produced 20,300 tonnes of sheep meat in June, 200 tonnes less that in June 2021. This brings the total production of sheep meat in the first half of 2022 to 132,800 tonnes 11% more than at the same point last year.
UK lamb kill for June totalled 895,200 head, a 2% decrease (17,800 head) compared to last year and the lowest June kill seen since 2018. For the first half of 2022, clean sheep slaughter reached 5.64 million head, 8% more than last year. Ewe kill totalled 90,000 head in June, an 8% (6,900 head) increase from last year and taking the year-to-date total to 578,400 head. This is up 11% (57,500 head) from 2021.
Average carcase weights for June stood at 19.8kg/head, 100g above the 5-year average for this time of year. This means reduced slaughter in June 2022 is the main driver for the year on year drop in production.
![Image of staff member Freya Shuttleworth](https://projectblue.blob.core.windows.net/media/Default/Staff Bio/MI/Freya Shuttleworth - 230907.png)
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