UK pigmeat manufacturing through the first quarter of 2025 was 6.4% up on the identical interval a yr in the past, Defra statistics present.
March UK lean pig slaughterings had been 6% up yr on yr at 857,000 head, with pigmeat manufacturing almost 7% up at 81,000 tonnes. Common weekly slaughterings, at 194,000 head, had been down on each the January and February figures, nevertheless.
The March complete meant that over the primary three months of 2025, the UK produced 244,500t of pigmeat, a considerable achieve of almost 15,000t (6.4%), in contrast with the identical interval final yr. It’s value noting that Q1 2024 volumes had been the bottom recorded since 2017, nevertheless, AHDB analyst Freya Shuttleworth identified.
UK clear pig kill totalled 2.59 million head through the first quarter, a 5.5% year-on-year improve of just about 136,000 head (5.5%). As pigs are sometimes pulled ahead for slaughter to fulfill Christmas demand, quarterly numbers had been 111,000 head decrease than This fall 2024, according to seasonal tendencies.
In the meantime, carcase weights have continued to rise, persevering with the pattern seen by 2024. The common dressed carcase weight for January – March 2025 was 91.5kg, 1kg heavier than yr earlier weights and up nearly 2kg in comparison with the final three months of 2024.
These two tendencies mixed to ship the 6.4% rise in general pigmeat manufacturing throughout Q1.
The slaughter pattern continued into the primary week of April, in accordance with AHDB’s estimated GB slaughterings for the week ended April 5, which at at 161,936 head, had been 9,000 above 2024 ranges and 12,000 above the 2023 determine, with carcase weights averaging 91.34kg within the SPP pattern.
