Australian lamb production continued to increase in May, jumping 20% year-on-year, to 42,388 tonnes cwt (Australian Bureau of Statistics).
The increase was predominantly due to a 21% surge in slaughter for the month, to 1.86 million head, lifting total production for the first five months of 2012 to 181,656 tonnes cwt.
A relatively dry start to autumn contributed to production increases in every state during May, as the national average carcase weight slipped to 22.8kg/head.
Victoria remained the largest producer of lamb, increasing 27% year-on-year to 17,397 tonnes cwt, supported by substantial year-on-year increases in NSW (up 20%, to 9,904 tonnes cwt) and SA (up 13%, to 9,595 tonnes cwt).
Tasmanian lamb production also increased in May, jumping 28% to 1,048 tonnes cwt, while WA remained relatively steady, increasing just 1% year-on-year, to 3,773 tonnes cwt, following several months of production declines.
Source: MLA.com
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