NINETEEN weeks into the 2022 slaughter season, and the beef industry is still searching for its first national weekly processing tally above 100,000 head.
While many had anticipated that national kills would have slipped well above six figures by this stage in the season, following a particularly quiet first quarter, persistent rain and flooding since the start of April across the eastern states have kept the handbrake firmly on processing operations.
Add to that the challenges surrounding labour and COVID in processing plants, and logistics and transport issues including international…