New Zealand: Cattle and Beef Semi-Annual Report 2017
New Zealand total cattle numbers are set to bounce back to 10.14 million head in 2017, nearly two percent greater than 2016. As a result, slaughter numbers in 2017 are forecast to drop to 4.2 million head, nearly five percent below 2016. Exports will follow suit and are forecast to contract to 543,000 metric tons carcass weight equivalents, down 7.5 percent from the strong result in 2016.