Agriculture - 3. quarter of 2008

It was produced 148 755 tonnes of meat in carcass weight in the 3rd quarter of 2008. This amount included 51.9% of pig meat, 13.3% of beef incl. veal and 34.8% of poultry meat. Meat production in total went down by 3.0%, milk collection dropped by 1.1% y-o-y.

Slaughter and meat production

Numbers of slaughtered cattle incl. calves increased by 3.2% y-o-y, while their average carcass weight went down by 1.3% to 291.3 kg. As a result, beef production inc. veal increased by 1.8% y-o-y.

Numbers of slaughtered pigs went down by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter of 2008; their average carcass weight fell by 0.4% to 86.6 kg. Pig meat production went down by 4.8 % y-o-y.

For poultry meat a decrease in production by 2.0% y-o-y was recorded.


Cattle, pigs and poultry numbers

According to the outputs of animal products statistics, cattle population increased by 0.8% to 1, 414 thous. heads as of 30 July 2008, cow numbers went up by 0.1% to 564.7 thous. heads.

Pig numbers dropped by 16.5% to 2, 351.7 thous. heads y-o-y, of which sow numbers went down by 24.0% to 165.7 thous. heads, gilt numbers dropped by 20.6% to 65.8 thous. heads.

Poultry numbers increased by 1.1% to 25.4 mill. heads y-o-y, of which hen numbers went up by 2.0% to 5.7 mill. heads.


Agricultural producers’ prices of cattle, pigs and chicken for slaughter

Agricultural producers’ prices of cattle for slaughter declined by 2.8% for bulls for slaughter and by 7.0 % for calves for slaughter in the 3rd quarter of 2008. On the contrary prices of heifers for slaughter went up by 1.7% and prices of cows for slaughter increased by 0.4 % y-o-y. Average price of bulls for slaughter the S, E, U-quality reached CZK 38.70 per kilogram in live weight and CZK 73.99 per kilogram in carcass weight.

A significant y-o-y increase in prices of pigs for slaughter, which was recorded throughout the 2nd quarter of 2008 slowed down in the 3rd quarter of 2008. Agricultural producers’ prices of pigs for slaughter rose by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter of 2008 y-o-y. Average price of pigs for slaughter the S, E, U - quality rose on level of CZK 33.03 per kilogram in live weight and CZK 42.52 per kilogram in carcass weight.

Prices of the 1st-quality chicken for slaughter rose by 7.8% y-o-y. Average price of the 1st-quality chicken totaled CZK 22.87 per kilogram in live weight.


Foreign trade ¹⁾ in meat and live animals

According to preliminary results, foreign trade ¹⁾ in meat ended in a passive trade balance 2,978 tonnes for beef, 29,108 tonnes for pig meat and 8,195 tonnes for poultry meat in the period from the 1st June of 2008 to the 31st August of 2008.

Beef imports dropped by 16.5% (by 859 tonnes), while exports increased by 23.9% (by 262 tonnes) y-o-y. Beef was imported predominantly from Poland (32%), Germany (22%) and to a lesser extent from Slovakia (12%) and Austria (11%). Exports went primarily to Slovakia (41%), Austria (30%), Germany (13%) and Poland (10%).

Imports of pig meat went up by 8,8% (by 2,922 tonnes) and exports increased by 10.4% (by 748 tonnes) y-o-y. Pig meat was imported largely from Germany (50%) and to a lesser extent from Austria (15%), Poland (9%), Spain (7%) and Belgium (6%). Meat was exported predominantly to Slovakia (84%).

Imports of poultry meat increased by 7.2% (by 933 tonnes) and exports went up by 11.4% (by 575 tonnes) y-o-y. Poultry meat was imported largely from Poland (35%), Brazil (21%) and Germany (15%). Meat was exported predominantly to Slovakia (52%), Hungary (14%) and Germany (13%).

Foreign trade ¹⁾ in live animals ended in active trade balance for cattle (+ 9,614 tonnes) and poultry (+ 7,180 tonnes). For pigs foreign trade ended in passive trade balance (- 958 tonnes).

Imports of live cattle decreased by 14.5% (by 87 tonnes) whereas exports went up by 18.7% (by 1,599 tonnes) y-o-y. Live cattle were imported largely from Slovakia (84%) and exported firstly to Austria (48%) and Germany (12%).

Imports of live pigs increased more than twice (by 2,104 tonnes) whereas exports dropped by 23.1% (by 865 tonnes) y-o-y. Pigs were imported from Germany (40%), the Netherlands (25%), Denmark (18%) and Austria (15%). Pig exports were destinated predominantly for Slovakia (58%) and to a lesser extent for Hungary (15%) and Italy (9%).

Imports in live poultry decreased by 22.5% (by 395 tonnes) and exports went down by 7.2% (by 666 tonnes) y-o-y. Live poultry were imported predominantly from Slovakia (68%), United Kingdom (12%) and Germany (11%). Exports went to Germany (45%), Poland (35%) and Slovakia (12%).


Milk collection and agricultural producers’ prices of milk

Milk collected to dairies totaled 596.1 million litres in the 3rd quarter of 2008, which was less by 1.1% in comparison to the same period of the previous year.

Average price of the Q-quality milk rose by 3.4% y-o-y. The average price of milk collected to dairies declined almost by CZK 1 compared to the 2nd quarter of 2008 (to CZK 8.22 per liter).

Foreign trade ¹⁾ in milk and milk products

According to preliminary results, foreign trade ¹⁾ in milk and milk products ended in active trade balance 138.2 thous. tonnes in the period from the 1st June of 2008 to the 31st August of 2008 due to a high amount of raw milk exports (incl. cream). Imports of milk and milk products went down by 6.7% (by 5 thous. tonnes), exports increased by 7.1% (by 13.7 thous. tonnes) y-o-y. Milk and milk products were imported predominantly from Slovakia (43%), Germany (27%), Poland (23%) and exported largely to Germany (62%) and to a lesser extent to Slovakia (12%) and Italy (8%).

1) For Intra-Community trade excl. data under Intrastat statistics threshold (annual value of goods - CZK 2 mil. for receipt, CZK 4 mil. for dispatch)

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Methodical note:
Contact person: Jiří Hrbek, phone 27405 2331, e-mail: jiri.hrbek@csu.gov.cz
Source: full survey on livestock slaughter carried out by the Czech Statistical Office, Agricultural Producer Price Indices in September of 2008 (CZSO).
Milk collection and purchase of poultry – survey conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Date of completing data collection: 10 October 2008
Date of completing data processing: 22 October 2008
Published data is final with exception of foreign trade data