Beef Price Drop Leads to 141,000 Fewer Hanwoo Cattle in Q1

Statistics Korea, Livestock Trend Survey for Q1
Number of Hanwoo, Dairy Cows, and Pigs Decreases

The number of Hanwoo cattle, dairy cows, and pigs raised in the first quarter of this year decreased compared to the same period last year. On the other hand, the numbers of chickens and ducks showed an increasing trend.

According to the "2024 First Quarter Livestock Trend Survey Results" announced by Statistics Korea on the 19th, the number of Hanwoo and beef cattle raised was 3,491,000, a decrease of 141,000 heads (3.9%) compared to the first quarter of last year. Compared to the previous fourth quarter, it decreased by 157,000 heads (4.3%).

The cause is the decline in Hanwoo prices. For cattle aged two years and older, the number increased from 1,483,000 in March to 1,504,000 last month. However, as Hanwoo prices fell, more farmers slaughtered cows. The number of cows slaughtered increased from 415,500 in 2022 to 489,700 last year.

The number of dairy cows raised also decreased by 3,000 heads (0.7%) to 382,000 compared to the same period last year. Although the number of cattle aged two years and older increased due to a decrease in slaughter numbers, the number of calves under one year old decreased from 73,000 to 68,000 due to reduced calf production.

The pig population was recorded at 10,994,000 heads, a decrease of 117,000 heads (1.1%) during the same period. The reduction in sows led to a decrease in pigs aged 2 to 4 months, and the number of pigs aged 4 to 6 months also decreased due to an increase in the slaughter of fattening pigs.

The number of laying hens was 76,033,000, an increase of 2,348,000 heads (3.2%) compared to the same period last year. This is due to the rise in egg farm gate prices. The number of broiler chickens also increased by 5.6% to 49,690,000, totaling 93,822,000, due to an increase in mature chickens.

The number of ducks was identified as 6,049,000, an increase of 1,226,000 heads (25.4%), as the number of avian influenza (AI) damage cases significantly decreased.