Dairy cows made up 78.5% of factory cow slaughter

Figures from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine show that 167,635 cows were processed at approved factories in the first six months of 2026. Dairy animals made up 131,606 of the total, or 78.5%, while 36,029 were suckler cows, representing 21.5%.

The number of cows slaughtered at these factories was lower than in the corresponding period of 2025, when the total was close to 195,000. Dairy cows accounted for about 145,000 of that figure, or 74.5%, and suckler-bred cows for roughly 49,500, or 25.5%.

The figures for smaller abattoirs approved by local authorities showed a different composition. Nearly 5,800 cows were slaughtered at those outlets in the first half of 2026.

Suckler cows represented 5,063 of the local-authority-approved abattoir total, equivalent to 87.6%. Dairy cows accounted for 718 animals, or 12.4%.

In the first half of 2025, more than 12,600 cows were slaughtered at local-authority-approved abattoirs. Beef-breed cows made up almost 10,800 of them, or 85%, while dairy breeds accounted for nearly 1,900, or 15%.