Drought drives surge in cattle sent to slaughter

Persistent drought is prompting many farmers to send their cattle to slaughter earlier than planned, ORF reported. The Handlbauer slaughterhouse in Linz said it was receiving about twice as many animals each day as under normal market conditions.

The company said the resulting volume of meat could not all be sold fresh during the summer and would have to be frozen. Its freezer warehouses were already more heavily used than usual, with some at their capacity limits.

The situation is creating challenges for the slaughterhouse, which is also operating with reduced staffing because of the holiday period.

Handlbauer said it understood the difficult situation facing many farms but urged farmers to plan sales carefully and coordinate closely with slaughterhouses whenever operationally possible.

Large quantities of meat would have to be stored frozen, the company said. In addition to extra storage and energy costs, freezing would lead to a significant loss in the value of the goods.