Agriculture - 1st quarter of 2012

Decline in meat production and increase in producer prices of animals for slaughter and of milk have continued

In Q1 2012 the meat production amounted to 111 785 tonnes and decreased by 5.1% compared to Q1 2011. The year-on-year drop consisted of decrements in beef (by 7.4%) and in pigmeat (by 9.2%), while the poultry meat production went up by 4.0%. Milk delivery grew by 7.5% to 596 107 thousand litres. Agricultural producer prices increased y-o-y by 6.7% for cattle for slaughter, by 19.8% for pigs, by 7.0% for poultry, and by 3.1% for milk.

Slaughtering and meat production
In Q1 2012 the number of slaughtered cattle went down by 7.0% y-o-y to 58 thousand heads. The decrease accounted for 13.8% in bulls for slaughter, for 1.8% in cows, for 4.9% in heifers, and for 1.6% in calves. The only increment was recorded in slaughtered young cattle up to 12 months (+10.5%); however, their share was only 1.0% of the total amount of slaughtered cattle.
The total beef and veal production reached 16 754 tonnes. It declined by 7.4% y-o-y and by 10.2% compared to Q4 2011.
The number of slaughtered pigs was lower by 9.3% y-o-y. The number of slaughtered sows fell sharply (by -35.9%) from 23 thousand heads in Q1 2011 to current 15 thousand heads.
The total pigmeat production decreased by 9.2% y-o-y to 60 018 tonnes.
Poultry meat production amounted to 34 956 tonnes; it rose by 4.0% in comparison to Q1 2011.

Results of cattle, pig and poultry breeding
According to the last livestock survey in cattle as at 31 December 2011, the number of cattle increased y-o-y to 1 339 thousand heads (+1.5%), of which the number of suckler cows rose to 183 thousand (+9.7%), whereas the number of dairy ones decreased to 374 thousand (-0.3%). The average annual milk yields were 7 127.8 litres; daily milk yields went up by 3.2% to 19.53 litres.
The number of pigs as at 31 December 2011 plummeted to 1 487 thousand heads (-19.4%), of which the number of sows decreased to 97 thousand heads (-20.7%) and the number of fattened pigs (more than 50 kg of live weight) fell to 611 thousand heads (-18.9%). Reproduction of sows retained a progressive trend; the number of weaned piglets was 23.5 per sow and year (+6.2%).
The number of poultry accounted for 19 256 thousand heads (-20.0%) as at 31 December 2011. The average number of laying hens in 2011 was 4 142 thousand heads (+3.6%); their average annual yield of eggs was 307.1 (-0.7%). At the end of 2011, the number of laying hens plummeted to 3 506 thousand heads (-19.0%) due to obligatory changes in equipment respecting animal welfare.

Agricultural producer prices of cattle, pigs and chicken for slaughter
In Q1 2012 agricultural producer prices of cattle for slaughter went up in all categories: by 10.4% for cows, by 8.3% for heifers, by 4.6% for bulls, and by 3.9% for calves. The average price of bulls for slaughter in S, E, and U quality classes was CZK 44.71 per kg of live weight or CZK 82.06 per kg of carcass weight.
Agricultural producer prices of pigs for slaughter grew by 19.8%. The average price of pigs for slaughter in S, E and U quality classes was CZK 31.37 per kg of live weight or CZK 40.42 per kg of carcass weight.
Agricultural producer prices of chicken for slaughter increased by 6.2%. The average price of chicken for slaughter in the first-quality class was CZK 22.59 per kg of live weight.

External trade in live animals and meat
According to preliminary results, external trade ¹⁾ in live animals in the period from December 2011 to February 2012 reached a positive balance in cattle (12 605 tonnes) and poultry (8 972 tonnes), and a negative balance in pigs (-1 782 tonnes).
Export of live cattle exceeded import; 82 tonnes (-54.0%) were imported and 12 687 tonnes (+9.8 %) exported. Cattle for slaughter accounted for 76% of the total imports and 60% of the total exports. Live cattle was imported predominantly from Slovakia (52%) and Austria (47%) and exported mainly to Austria (53%), Germany (10%), and Croatia (10%).
Imports of live pigs accounted to 7 383 tonnes (+42.0%) and exports reached 5 601 tonnes (-11.6%). Animals for slaughter amounted to 50% of imports and 93% of the total exports. Live pigs were imported mainly from Germany (44%), Denmark (26%), Slovakia (11%), and the Netherlands (10%); exports went to Hungary (40%), Slovakia (32%), and Germany (18%).
Imports of live poultry decreased by 32.2% to 1 261 tonnes; exports increased by 29.9% to 10 232 tonnes. Chicken for slaughter accounted for 80% of imports and 65% of exports. Most of live poultry was imported from Slovakia (87%); exports were directed to Germany (48%), Poland (30%), and Slovakia (19%).

External trade ¹⁾ in meat was negatively balanced in all categories: 1 822 tonnes of beef, 41 825 tonnes of pigmeat and 17 248 tonnes of poultry meat.
Both imports and exports of beef decreased y-o-y; imports reached 3 955 tonnes (-15.3%), while exports accounted for 2 133 tonnes (-1.0%). Beef was imported from Poland (38%), Austria (15%), the Netherlands (13%), Germany (10%), and Ireland (10%). It was exported to Slovakia (33%), Germany (29%), Austria (16%), and Poland (10%).
Imports of pigmeat reached 51 057 tonnes (+13.2%) and exports were 9 232 tonnes (+0.2%). Majority of pigmeat was imported from Germany (40%), Spain (10%), and Poland (10%), and exported to Slovakia (84%) and Germany (12%).
Imports of poultry increased y-o-y to 22 645 tonnes (+6.4%), while exports fell to 5 397 tonnes (-2.9%). Imports came from Poland (45%), Brazil (17%), and Germany (10%); exports went mainly to Slovakia (59%) and the Netherlands (10%).

Milk collection and agricultural producer prices of milk
In Q1 2012, dairies collected 596 107 thousand litres of milk from domestic producers. It was by 7.5% more than in the same period of the previous year and by 4.6% more than in the previous quarter.
Agricultural producer prices of went up by 3.1%, y-o-y. Average price of Q-quality milk was CZK 8.40 per litre.

External trade in milk and milk products
In external trade ¹⁾ in milk and milk products, exports exceeded imports by 156 473 tonnes during the period from December 2011 to February 2012. In total 57 996 tonnes (+0.5%) of milk and milk products were imported, and 214 468 tonnes (+15.4%) were exported. Imports of milk and acidified milk products decreased (-1.2% and -3.2%, respectively), and imports of cheese and curd went up (+2.3%). On the contrary, exports of milk and acidified milk products rose (+20.4% and +6.7%, respectively) as well as exports of cheese and curd (+14.7%). Exports of butter dropped considerably (-23.1%). Milk and milk products were imported mainly from Germany (39%), Slovakia (24%), and Poland (20%), their exports went to Germany (56%) and Slovakia (15%).
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¹⁾ Intrastat does not include individual trading operations carried out by persons who are not registered for VAT as well as reporting units below the applicable thresholds of CZK 8 million a year for both flows are not under reporting duty for Intrastat.


Notes:
Published data are final, except external trade data.
Contact person: Jiří Hrbek, phone 27405 2331, e-mail: jiri.hrbek@czso.cz
Source: Livestock Slaughtering (Czech Statistical Office), Agricultural Producer Price Indices (Czech Statistical Office), External Trade Database (Czech Statistical Office), data on milk collection and poultry purchase (Ministry of Agriculture)
End of data collection: 10 April 2012
End of data processing: 26 April 2012
Following tables: /csu/czso/livestock-slaughtering-december-2012-333zehva7r
http://www.czso.cz/csu/czso/indexy-cen-zemedelskych-vyrobcu-2012-bdaxpy9uid ,in Czech
/csu/czso/poultry-breeding-figures-2011-34xp7tu9t4
/csu/czso/cattle-breeding-figures-2nd-half-of-2011-uonpintu7k
/csu/czso/pig-breeding-figures-as-at-31-december-2011-va65plycgq
Date of the next News Release publication: 30July 2012

This press release was not edited for language.

Published: 30.04.2012
The data are valid as of the release date of the publication.