AUSTRALIA, North Sydney. Australian lamb slaughter is forecast to reach its lowest level since 2012 as poor conditions that impacted 2018 are expected to continue to affect sheepmeat supply this year, according to Meat & Livestock Australia’s (MLA) 2019 Sheep Industry Projections.
Lamb slaughter is forecast to decline 7% in 2019 to 21.2 mill. head, while sheep slaughter is predicted to be down 16%, to 8 mill. head, underpinned by substantial drops in marking rates and the culling of large numbers of ewes and ewe lambs.
The significantly reduced breeding flock and widespread rainfall decencies, suggest fewer joinings than usual and a continuation of below-average lambing rates experienced in 2018.