Cows drive the increase: slaughter up almost 40 % month on month

March figures surprised because the usual seasonal rise in cow slaughter was absent. April, however, made up for it: all cow categories totaled 234,317 head—39.6 % more than in March—and accounted for 48.1 % of total throughput versus 45.9 % the previous month. Females represented 46.8 % of slaughter in the first four months.