Red Meat Production Down, but Chicken Up
AUSTRALIA - The number of cattle, sheep, and pigs sent to the abattoir dropped by up to 30,000 head in the June quarter.Concerns have been expressed by some parts of industry that the global financial crisis is hitting red meat sales.
There are also some fears that a growing number of consumers are turning away from red meat because of the emissions agriculture produces.
It's unclear whether these ABS figures prove anything, ABC, but there's no doubt that while red meat killings are down, chicken slaughter numbers are up.
The number of chickens slaughtered in the June quarter rose by more than 500,000 to almost 121 million.
Meanwhile, cattle slaughters fell by 30,000 head to 1.9 million.