NI beef industry's worth up £20m

The value of Northern Ireland's beef industry rose by £20 million last year, official figures revealed today.

The Livestock and Meat Commission attributed the surge to an increase in beef production increased last year by over 10,000 tonnes.

However there was little or no change in the farm gate price.

The average price of prime cattle remained at £1.93 per kilogramme in 2007 but fell by 1 pence to £1.44 per kilogramme for cows.

Total beef production rose by 10,650 tonnes to 152,590 tonnes in 2007 from 141,940 tonnes in 2006 - an 8% increase.

Cow beef output in the food chain rose by 9% to 21,020 tonnes while prime beef production increased 7% to 131,570 tonnes following a 5% increase in slaughterings and an increase of 6kg in average carcass weight to 334kg.