Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 15 Jun 1999

Vol. 506 No. 2

Written Answers. - Carcase Classification.

Paul Connaughton

Ceist:

167 Mr. Connaughton asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will outline in tabular format the carcase classification results for Irish steers, heifers, bulls and cows for each of the years 1990 to 1998 inclusive; and the reason there has been such a deterioration in the classification results. [14984/99]

Minister for Agriculture and Food (Mr. Walsh)

The carcase classification results for all categories of cattle slaughtered in licensed meat export premises in Ireland during the period 1990 to 1998 are given in the following tabular statement.

There has been a deterioration in the grades of Irish cattle as measured on the EU classification system over the past five years in particular. There has been a drop in the conformation standards and an increase in fat levels. A number of factors have contributed to this development, including the flat pricing system operated by meat processors. Changes in the genetic composition of the cattle herd, brought about mainly by the increasing use of the Holstein breed in the dairy herd, have also been a factor. In addition, the low level of live trade to third countries over the past three years has also been a factor as these markets traditionally took the poorer quality finished cattle.

The beef task force, which I set up last November, is examining these issues as part of an overall strategy for the beef industry. The task force is expected to complete its report shortly.

CARCASECLASSIFICATIONRESULTS1990(%)

Steers

	E	U	R	O	P	Total
1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.3	0.4
2	0.0	0.1	0.4	0.9	0.2	1.6
3	0.1	6.1	13.7	12.9	0.2	33.0
4L	0.1	7.8	27.8	5.6	0.0	41.3
4H	0.0	3.5	16.5	1.6	0.0	21.6
5	0.0	0.3	1.6	0.2	0.0	2.1
Total	0.2	17.8	60.0	21.3	0.7	100.0

Heifers

	E	U	R	O	P	Total
1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.9	1.1
2	0.0	0.2	0.5	1.3	0.9	2.9
3	0.1	2.7	9.3	6.3	0.3	18.7
4L	0.0	5.0	24.6	13.3	0.1	43.0
4H	0.0	2.0	16.2	8.0	0.0	26.2
5	0.0	0.4	5.3	2.4	0.0	8.1
Total	0.1	10.3	55.9	31.5	2.2	100.0

Cows

	E	U	R	O	Pa	Pb	Pc	Total
1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	1.4	4.3	3.8	9.6
2	0.0	0.0	0.1	1.5	7.0	4.2	0.4	13.2
3	0.0	0.0	0.5	10.5	9.2	0.6	0.0	20.8
4L	0.0	0.1	2.1	22.6	4.7	0.0	0.0	29.5
4H	0.0	0.1	2.4	14.6	1.0	0.0	0.0	18.1
5	0.0	0.1	2.5	6.0	0.2	0.0	0.0	8.8
Total	0.0	0.3	7.6	55.3	23.5	9.1	4.2	100.0

CARCASECLASSIFICATIONRESULTS1991(%)

Steers

	E	U	R	O	P	Total
1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.3	0.4
2	0.0	0.1	0.4	0.8	0.2	1.5
3	0.1	5.3	12.3	13.6	0.2	31.5
4L	0.1	8.7	27.7	5.2	0.0	41.7
4H	0.0	4.3	17.2	1.5	0.0	23.0
5	0.0	0.3	1.4	0.2	0.0	1.9
Total	0.2	18.7	59.0	21.4	0.7	100.0

Heifers

	E	U	R	O	P	Total
1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.5	0.7
2	0.0	0.2	0.4	0.8	0.6	2.0
3	0.1	3.5	9.6	5.5	0.3	19.0
4L	0.1	7.4	24.8	11.5	0.0	43.8
4H	0.1	3.2	16.8	6.8	0.0	26.9
5	0.0	0.4	5.1	2.1	0.0	7.6
Total	0.3	14.7	56.7	29.6	1.4	100.0

Cows

	E	U	R	O	Pa	Pb	Pc	Total
1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	1.3	4.4	4.5	10.3
2	0.0	0.0	0.1	1.2	6.1	4.1	0.5	12.0
3	0.0	0.0	1.4	9.2	9.3	0.9	0.0	19.8
4L	0.0	0.1	1.5	21.4	5.2	0.1	0.0	28.7
4H	0.0	0.1	2.5	15.2	1.2	0.0	0.0	19.0
5	0.0	0.1	2.8	7.1	0.2	0.0	0.0	10.2
Total	0.0	0.3	7.7	54.3	23.3	9.5	5.0	100.0

Young Bull "A"

	E	U	R	O	P	Total
1	–	0.5	8.8	10.2	2.3	21.9
2	–	5.7	24.1	15.5	1.3	46.5
3	–	4.4	15.9	6.4	0.2	26.8
4L	–	1.1	2.7	0.4	–	4.2
4H	–	–	0.4	–	–	0.4
5	–	–	0.2	–	–	0.2
Total	–	11.7	52.0	32.5	3.8	100.0

Bull "B"

	E	U	R	O	P	Total
1	0.5	4.9	7.8	5.5	0.7	19.4
2	1.5	11.8	14.1	6.2	0.6	34.2
3	0.6	9.4	9.8	2.9	0.1	22.7
4L	0.8	6.9	4.9	0.7	–	13.3
4H	0.3	4.2	2.2	0.1	–	6.7
5	–	2.8	0.7	–	–	3.7
Total	3.8	40.0	39.5	15.4	1.3	100.0

CARCASECLASSIFICATIONRESULTS1992(%)

Steers

	E	U	R	O	P	Total
1	–	–	–	–	0.2	0.2
2	–	0.1	0.2	0.5	0.2	1.0
3	0.1	4.2	8.7	10.8	0.4	24.2.
4L	0.1	10.1	27.7	6.2	0.1	44.2
4H	–	5.9	20.1	2.1	–	28.1
5	–	0.4	1.7	0.2	–	2.3
Total	0.2	20.7	58.4	19.8	0.9	100.0

Heifers

	E	U	R	O	P	Total
1	–	–	–	0.1	0.5	0.6
2	–	0.1	0.3	0.4	0.5	1.3
3	0.1	2.3	8.7	4.3	0.3	15.7
4L	–	6.3	28.5	11.5	0.2	46.5
4H	–	3.1	18.7	6.7	0.1	28.6
5	–	0.5	4.7	2.1	–	7.3
Total	0.1	12.3	60.9	25.1	1.6	100.0

Cows

	E	U	R	O	Pa	Pb	Pc	Total
1	–	–	–	–	0.7	3.0	3.4	7.1
2	–	–	0.1	0.8	4.9	3.7	0.6	10.1
3	–	–	0.1	7.4	9.5	0.8	–	18.0
4L	–	0.1	1.7	21.0	7.2	0.2	–	30.2
4H	–	0.1	2.4	17.0	2.3	–	–	21.8
5	–	0.1	2.9	9.3	0.5	–	–	12.8
Total	–	0.3	7.4	55.5	25.1	7.7	4.0	100.0

Young Bull "A"

	E	U	R	O	P	Total
1	–	0.5	4.4	5.6	1.1	11.6
2	0.2	6.1	24.0	13.9	0.3	44.4
3	–	6.8	18.0	6.1	0.3	31.2
4L	–	4.0	7.3	0.3	–	11.6
4H	–	0.2	0.5	0.3	–	0.9
5	–	–	0.3	–	–	0.3
Total	0.2	17.5	54.5	26.2	1.7	100.0

Bull "B"

	E	U	R	O	P	Total
1	0.6	6.0	5.7	2.9	0.4	15.6
2	1.3	14.4	10.8	4.8	0.4	31.7
3	0.9	12.0	8.6	2.7	0.2	24.5
4L	0.5	9.2	5.1	0.9	–	15.7
4H	0.4	4.3	2.9	0.6	–	8.1
5	0.3	2.7	1.4	0.1	–	4.4
Total	4.0	48.5	34.6	11.9	1.0	100.0

CARCASECLASSIFICATIONRESULTS1993(%)

Steers

	E	U	R	O	P	Total
1	–	–	–	–	0.2	0.3
2	–	0.2	0.3	0.4	0.3	1.2
3	0.1	3.3	6.9	7.9	0.7	18.9
4L	0.1	9.3	25.0	12.0	0.5	46.9
4H	–	4.9	18.8	5.4	0.1	29.2
5	–	0.4	2.4	0.8	–	3.6
Total	0.2	18.1	53.4	26.5	1.8	100.0

Heifers

	E	U	R	O	P	Total
1	–	–	–	–	0.4	0.4
2	–	0.2	0.4	0.5	0.5	1.6
3	–	1.9	7.1	5.2	0.8	15.0
4L	0.1	5.5	25.1	14.8	0.8	46.3
4H	0.1	2.5	16.4	9.3	0.3	28.6
5	–	0.4	4.2	3.4	0.1	8.1
Total	0.2	10.5	53.2	33.2	2.9	100.0

Cows

	E	U	R	O	Pa	Pb	Pc	Total
1	–	–	–	–	0.5	3.3	5.0	8.8
2	–	–	–	0.5	5.1	5.4	1.0	12.0
3	–	–	0.2	4.3	11.7	1.7	0.1	18.0
4L	–	0.1	1.0	15.2	12.0	0.5	–	28.8
4H	–	0.1	1.3	13.0	5.4	0.1	–	19.9
5	–	0.1	1.7	9.0	1.7	–	–	12.5
Total	–	0.3	4.2	42.0	36.4	11.0	6.1	100.0

Young Bull "A"

	E	U	R	O	P	Total
1	0.1	1.2	5.7	5.3	0.2	14.3
2	–	7.0	19.1	11.1	2.1	39.4
3	–	11.1	15.8	5.8	0.6	33.3
4L	–	4.7	5.8	0.7	–	11.2
4H	–	0.9	0.6	0.2	–	1.7
5	–	–	–	–	–	–
Total	0.1	24.9	47.0	23.2	4.7	100.0

Bull "B"

	E	U	R	O	P	Total
1	0.7	5.7	9.9	4.1	1.4	21.7
2	2.2	15.3	14.7	7.4	0.9	40.4
3	0.6	6.6	6.8	3.1	0.3	17.3
4L	0.5	5.5	4.8	1.2	0.1	12.0
4H	0.2	3.4	1.8	0.3	0.1	5.8
5	0.1	1.7	1.0	–	0.1	2.8
Total	4.1	38.1	38.9	16.2	2.7	100.0

CARCASECLASSIFICATIONRESULTS1994(%)

Steers

	E	U	R	O	P	Total
1	–	–	–	0.1	0.5	0.6
2	–	0.2	0.3	0.7	0.6	1.8
3	0.1	2.3	5.7	7.0	1.1	16.2
4L	0.1	7.8	22.2	16.0	0.8	49.9
4H	–	4.1	15.1	8.2	0.2	27.6
5	–	0.5	3.7	2.7	–	6.9
Total	0.2	14.9	47.0	34.7	3.2	100.0

Heifers

	E	U	R	O	P	Total
1	–	–	–	0.1	0.9	1.0
2	–	0.1	0.3	0.7	1.2	2.3
3	–	1.1	4.8	5.7	1.2	12.8
4L	–	4.1	20.6	16.6	1.1	42.4
4H	–	2.6	15.2	11.5	0.4	29.7
5	–	0.5	5.0	6.1	0.2	11.8
Total	–	8.4	45.9	40.7	5.0	100.0

Cows

	E	U	R	O	Pa	Pb	Pc	Total
1	–	–	–	–	1.6	3.6	6.8	11.0
2	–	–	–	0.5	4.5	6.6	1.4	13.0
3	–	–	0.1	3.4	10.7	2.1	0.1	16.4
4L	–	0.1	0.7	12.4	11.8	0.7	–	25.7
4H	–	0.1	0.7	11.8	5.5	0.2	–	18.3
5	–	0.1	1.4	11.7	2.4	–	–	15.6
Total	–	0.3	2.9	39.8	35.5	13.2	8.3	100.0

Young Bull "A"

	E	U	R	O	P	Total
1	0.6	1.4	5.0	5.8	2.0	14.9
2	0.1	6.2	14.0	11.2	1.8	33.3
3	0.1	10.1	14.3	4.8	0.1	29.4
4L	–	9.8	9.6	0.8	–	20.2
4H	–	0.9	1.0	0.2	–	2.0
5	–	0.1	0.1	–	–	0.2
Total	0.8	28.5	43.9	22.9	3.9	100.0

Bull "B"

	E	U	R	O	P	Total
1	1.0	5.7	7.3	4.3	1.5	19.9
2	1.5	14.8	14.4	10.5	1.5	42.7
3	0.7	7.3	8.0	4.2	0.4	30.6
4L	0.4	4.9	4.0	1.2	0.1	10.6
4H	–	2.2	1.4	0.2	–	3.9
5	0.1	1.4	0.8	0.1	–	2.4
Total	3.7	36.4	36.0	20.5	3.4	100.0

CARCASECLASSIFICATIONRESULTS1995(%)

Steers

	E	U	R	O	P	Total
1	–	–	–	0.1	0.5	0.6
2	–	0.2	0.4	0.9	0.7	2.2
3	0.1	1.8	4.5	6.3	1.1	13.8
4L	0.1	6.7	17.9	15.4	1.1	41.2
4H	–	5.2	15.5	10.3	0.3	31.3
5	–	1.2	5.6	4.0	0.1	10.9
Total	0.2	15.1	43.9	37.0	3.8	100.0

Heifers

	E	U	R	O	P	Total
1	–	–	–	0.2	0.7	0.9
2	–	0.1	0.4	0.9	1.1	2.5
3	–	1.0	3.9	5.6	1.1	11.6
4L	0.1	3.6	16.3	16.7	1.0	37.7
4H	–	2.6	14.9	14.0	0.5	32.0
5	–	0.6	6.3	8.2	0.2	15.3
Total	0.1	7.9	41.8	45.6	4.6	100.0

Cows

	E	U	R	O	Pa	Pb	Pc	Total
1	–	–	–	–	0.8	3.9	6.1	10.8
2	–	–	–	0.6	4.9	6.4	1.1	13.0
3	–	–	0.1	2.7	9.7	2.1	0.2	14.8
4L	–	0.1	0.6	9.4	11.3	0.6	0.1	22.1
4H	–	0.1	0.9	11.6	6.7	0.2	–	19.5
5	–	0.1	1.5	15.0	3.1	0.1	–	19.8
Total	–	0.3	3.1	39.3	36.5	13.3	7.5	100.0

Young Bull "A"

	E	U	R	O	P	Total
1	0.1	1.1	3.6	4.3	1.3	10.5
2	0.1	7.4	12.5	9.5	0.9	30.3
3	0.1	9.5	17.0	6.6	0.6	33.7
4L	–	9.4	11.4	1.5	–	22.4
4H	–	1.4	1.5	0.1	–	2.9
5	–	0.1	0.1	–	–	0.2
Total	0.4	28.9	46.1	21.9	2.8	100.0

Bull "B"

	E	U	R	O	P	Total
1	0.7	6.7	7.3	5.5	1.9	22.1
2	1.4	13.4	13.4	9.5	1.2	39.0
3	1.0	7.9	6.8	4.8	0.3	20.8
4L	0.2	4.5	3.9	1.4	0.2	10.2
4H	0.1	2.0	1.7	0.4	–	4.1
5	–	1.8	1.8	0.1	–	3.8
Total	3.3	36.2	34.9	21.6	3.9	100.0

CARCASECLASSIFICATIONRESULTS1996(%)

Steers

	E	U	R	O	P	Total
1	–	–	–	0.1	0.2	0.3
2	–	0.1	0.4	0.8	0.7	2.0
3	–	1.5	5.2	7.4	1.8	15.9
4	–	10.0	34.5	24.3	1.7	70.5
5	–	1.1	6.3	3.8	0.1	11.3
Total	–	12.7	46.4	36.4	4.5	100.0

Heifers

	E	U	R	O	P	Total
1	–	–	–	0.1	0.9	1.0
2	–	0.1	0.4	0.8	1.0	7.3
3	–	0.9	4.7	5.2	1.1	11.9
4	–	5.0	34.1	27.3	1.6	68.0
5	–	0.6	7.7	8.2	0.2	16.7
Total	–	6.6	46.9	41.6	4.8	100.0

Cows

	E	U	R	O	Pc	Total
1	–	–	–	0.1	8.3	8.4
2	–	–	–	0.6	11.6	12.2
3	–	–	0.1	3.0	11.6	14.7
4	–	0.2	1.4	21.6	18.0	41.2
5	–	0.1	2.2	17.7	3.5	23.5
Total	–	0.3	3.7	43.0	53.0	100.0

Young Bull "A"

	E	U	R	O	P	Total
1	0.1	1.6	2.6	3.1	1.1	8.6
2	0.3	9.2	13.3	10.3	1.7	34.8
3	0.2	12.9	13.7	6.6	0.8	34.2
4L	0.2	9.0	8.1	1.5	0.1	18.8
4H	–	2.0	1.0	0.2	–	3.2
5	–	0.1	0.3	–	–	0.5
Total	0.7	34.8	39.0	21.6	3.8	100.0

Bull "B"

	E	U	R	O	P	Total
1	0.6	6.2	5.6	6.7	1.7	20.9
2	1.3	15.0	10.9	9.8	1.9	39.0
3	0.8	8.5	6.6	5.0	0.8	21.7
4L	0.4	5.2	4.0	1.3	0.4	11.3
4H	0.2	2.1	1.4	0.3	–	4.0
5	0.1	1.5	1.4	0.1	–	3.1
Total	3.3	38.6	29.9	23.2	5.0	100.0

CARCASE CLASSIFICATION RESULTS 1997 (%)

Steers

	E	U	R	O	P+	P	P-	Total
1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.3
2	0.0	0.1	0.4	0.9	0.8	0.1	0.0	2.2
3	0.0	1.0	4.0	7.5	2.6	0.0	0.0	15.2
4L	0.0	3.1	12.8	15.0	2.1	0.0	0.0	33.0
4H	0.0	3.7	16.5	12.5	0.6	0.0	0.0	33.3
5	0.0	1.4	9.1	5.4	0.1	0.0	0.0	16.0
Total	0.1	9.2	42.8	41.3	6.3	0.2	0.0	100.0

Young Bulls

	E	U	R	O	P+	P	P-	Total
1	0.2	1.8	2.9	3.7	1.1	0.1	0.0	9.7
2	0.6	8.6	13.3	12.4	1.7	0.1	0.0	36.7
3	0.3	9.9	14.0	9.0	1.1	0.0	0.0	34.3
4L	0.1	5.8	7.0	2.1	0.1	0.0	0.0	15.2
4H	0.0	1.4	1.5	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	3.6
5	0.0	0.2	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.4
Total	1.2	27.8	39.2	27.5	4.0	0.2	0.0	100.0

Old Bulls

	E	U	R	O	P+	P	P-	Total
1	0.8	7.4	6.5	5.2	1.0	0.2	0.1	21.2
2	1.6	15.5	10.7	9.2	1.5	0.1	0.0	38.7
3	0.9	9.3	6.3	3.5	0.5	0.0	0.0	20.5
4L	0.5	5.5	4.3	1.5	0.3	0.0	0.0	12.1
4H	0.1	1.7	1.5	0.6	0.1	0.0	0.0	3.9
5	0.0	1.9	1.5	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	3.6
Total	3.9	41.3	30.7	20.3	3.3	0.3	0.2	100.0

Heifers

	E	U	R	O	P+	P	P-	Total
1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.5	0.5	0.1	1.3
2	0.0	0.1	0.4	1.0	0.9	0.2	0.0	2.5
3	0.0	0.7	4.5	4.6	1.1	0.0	0.0	10.9
4L	0.0	2.0	14.5	11.3	1.1	0.0	0.0	29.0
4H	0.0	2.2	17.1	13.4	0.7	0.0	0.0	33.4
5	0.0	0.8	10.7	11.1	0.3	0.0	0.0	23.0
Total	0.1	5.7	47.3	41.6	4.6	0.7	0.1	100.0

Cows

	E	U	R	O	P+	P	P-	Total
1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	1.0	3.1	3.5	7.7
2	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.7	4.8	4.5	0.6	10.0
3	0.0	0.0	0.1	3.0	8.4	1.1	0.0	12.7
4L	0.0	0.0	0.4	9.3	9.0	0.3	0.0	19.0
4H	0.0	0.1	0.9	13.4	6.3	0.1	0.0	20.7
5	0.0	0.1	3.1	22.5	3.6	0.0	0.0	29.3
Total	0.0	0.2	4.4	49.0	33.1	9.1	4.2	100.0

CARCASE CLASSIFICATION RESULTS 1998 (%)

Steers

	E	U	R	O	P+	P	P-	Total
1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.2	0.1	0.0	0.5
2	0.0	0.1	0.4	1.1	1.2	0.2	0.0	3.0
3	0.0	0.7	3.8	8.0	4.1	0.1	0.0	16.7
4L	0.0	1.7	10.4	16.2	3.2	0.0	0.0	31.6
4H	0.0	2.3	11.2	15.2	1.1	0.0	0.0	32.8
5	0.0	0.9	7.9	6.6	0.1	0.0	0.0	15.4
Total	0.0	5.7	36.7	47.2	9.9	0.3	0.0	100.0

Young Bulls

	E	U	R	O	P+	P	P-	Total
1	0.2	1.3	3.7	6.2	1.4	0.3	0.0	13.1
2	0.6	7.7	13.7	9.5	1.8	0.4	0.0	33.5
3	0.2	9.9	14.1	6.0	0.8	0.0	0.0	31.1
4L	0.0	6.7	6.7	2.3	0.2	0.0	0.0	15.9
4H	0.0	2.5	3.0	0.4	0.0	0.0	0.0	5.9
5	0.0	0.2	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.4
Total	1.0	28.3	41.5	24.4	4.2	0.7	0.0	100.0

Old Bulls

	E	U	R	O	P+	P	P-	Total
1	0.3	6.7	9.1	6.8	1.8	0.3	0.1	25.2
2	0.8	13.1	12.0	9.1	2.4	0.1	0.0	37.6
3	0.6	6.7	6.7	4.4	1.1	0.0	0.0	19.5
4L	0.1	3.5	3.1	1.8	0.2	0.0	0.0	8.7
4H	0.0	1.7	2.4	0.6	0.0	0.0	0.0	4.7
5	0.1	2.1	2.0	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	4.3
Total	2.0	33.3	35.3	22.9	5.5	0.3	0.2	100.0

Heifers

	E	U	R	O	P+	P	P-	Total
1	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.5	0.9	0.7	0.1	2.4
2	0.0	0.1	0.5	1.4	1.3	0.3	0.0	3.6
3	0.0	0.6	4.3	6.1	1.6	0.1	0.0	12.6
4L	0.0	1.2	11.6	12.2	1.5	0.0	0.0	26.4
4H	0.0	1.6	15.3	15.3	1.0	0.0	0.0	33.1
5	0.0	0.5	9.3	11.7	0.4	0.0	0.0	21.9
Total	0.1	4.0	40.3	47.3	6.6	1.1	0.1	100.0

Cows

	E	U	R	O	P+	P	P-	Total
1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.2	1.4	4.4	4.8	10.8
2	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.9	5.3	4.8	0.8	11.8
3	0.0	0.0	0.1	2.7	8.5	1.4	0.0	12.7
4L	0.0	0.0	0.4	7.4	9.2	0.4	0.0	17.3
4H	0.0	0.0	0.7	11.5	7.2	0.1	0.0	19.8
5	0.0	0.1	2.2	21.4	4.0	0.1	0.0	27.8
Total	0.0	0.2	3.4	44.0	35.6	11.1	5.7	100.0