In 2009, 27.975 million cattle heads were slaughtered, a number 2.5% lower than that of 2008. There was also reduction in chicken slaughter, of 2.4% – in 2009, 4.776 billion units were slaughtered. On the other hand, there was an increase of 7.1% in hogs and pigs slaughter (30.876 million units slaughtered in 2009). Last year, 19.597 billion liters of milk were acquired, 1.6% more than in the previous year, and 33.919 million entire cattle rawhide pieces (6.8% decrease in comparison to 2008). The production of hen’s eggs reached 2.359 billion dozens, 3.4 more than in 2008.

Comparing 2008 and 2009 as to the monthly performance of cattle slaughter, two quite distinct periods were observed: from January to July 2009 the number of heads slaughtered was always lower than that of 2008; whereas from August to December it became positive and increasing. The comparative result of June (-1.9%) and July (-0.5%) already demonstrated a recovery in the number of animals slaughtered, showing that the effects of the international financial crisis were weaker. December presented 2,560 million animals slaughtered, an equivalent level to the months of better performance in 2008.

In the accumulated in the year, the Central West region accounted for 35.15% of the whole national cattle slaughter; the Southeast, for 23.3%. Mato Grosso is the state with the highest slaughter percentage, 14.29% of total, closely followed by São Paulo, 12.7%.

In relation to chicken (-2.4% in comparison to 2008), during nine months the monthly slaughter in 2009 was inferior to that obtained in the previous year. The main region regarding chicken slaughter is the South, with 60.2% of national production, followed by the Southeast (22.6%). Paraná contributed with 26.0% of the total slaughtered chicken.

Regarding the slaughter of hogs and pigs (7.1% increase in 2009), the monthly performance in terms of volume slaughtered presented a positive variation against 2008, with highlights being March (13.9% increase) and July (15.7%). The highest percentage of hogs and pigs slaughter is found in the South region (67.2% of total). The second region is the Southeast (17.4%). Santa Catarina participates with 27.7% of production, and Rio Grande do Sul, with 22.5%.

The acquisition of milk (1.6% increase in relation to 2008) has grown annually since 2003.

When observing production distributed in 2009, one can see that during the whole first quarter the acquisition of milk was smaller than that in 2008. Recovery only began to take place in August, keeping the upward trend until the end of 2009, being able to surpass accumulated losses.

The main states in milk acquisition in 2009 were Minas Gerais, with a participation of 26.8%; Rio Grande do Sul (14.1%); and Goiás (12.3%).

In 2009, 33.919 million entire cattle rawhide pieces (-6.8% than in 2008) were acquired. São Paulo (18.9% of total), Minas Gerais (14.1%) and Rio Grande do Sul (13.0%) were the states that most acquired leather last year. When comparing the quantity of animals slaughtered with the quantity of acquired leather, in 2009, one can observe that the difference was 21.2%, smaller than in 2008 (26.8%).

The production of hen’s eggs in 2009 (3.4% larger than that of 2008) was increasing in all months. São Paulo participated with 30.6% of total, and Minas Gerais, with 12.7%. Some federation units had significant relative variations between 2008 and 2009, being the highlight the increase, above 63.0%, achieved by Mato Grosso. Amazonas also had a positive variation of 26.4% in the comparison, whereas the Federal District had a reduction of 31.0% in its production.

In the fourth quarter of 2009, 7.382 million cattle heads were slaughtered

In the fourth quarter of 2009, 7.382 million cattle heads were slaughtered, an increase of 10.4% in relation to the fourth quarter of 2008, and of 2.5% in relation to the third quarter of 2009.

Since the first quarter of 2006, the number of heads slaughtered remained above 7.0 million, except for the fourth quarter of 2008 and for the two first quarters of 2009. The fourth quarter of 2009 was the third consecutive quarter with increasing cattle slaughter, a reflex of recovery in transactions with the external market and with the internal demand.

In terms of weight of carcasses, 1.770 million tons were recorded, resulting in increases of 12.9% and 2.5%, respectively, in relation to the fourth quarter of 2008 and the third quarter of 2009.

The survey counted on the participation of 1,446 informants on cattle slaughter. The state with the highest number of informants is Rio Grande do Sul, which kept 278 informants, although contributing with just 6.51% of the total slaughtered volume. In terms of number of slaughtered animals, Mato Grosso remained the main Brazilian state, with 14.20% of the whole national production of supervised establishments. São Paulo was the second state (12.5% of total).

In the fourth quarter of 2009, 1.217 billion chicken units were slaughtered, a decrease of 3.9% in relation to the immediately previous quarter. In relation to the same period of 2008, the reduction was 3.2%. The production of chicken carcasses was 2.533 million tons, a reduction of 1.5% in relation to the fourth quarter of 2008 and 3.2% in relation to the third quarter of 2009.

The survey counted on the participation of 325 informants. São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul are the states with the highest number of informants. Paraná slaughtered 25.2% of the total of animals in the country, followed by Santa Catarina (18.0%) and Rio Grande do Sul (16.5%).

In the fourth quarter of 2009, 7.858 million hogs and pigs were slaughtered, 6.0% more than in the same period of 2008, and 3.0% less than in the third quarter of 2009, which had surpassed the historical level of 8 million slaughtered animals. The production of hogs and pigs carcasses was 724.784 thousand tons, 5.4% larger than that of the fourth quarter of 2008, but 5.9% smaller than the immediately previous quarterly result.

The survey on hogs and pigs slaughter counted on 898 informants. Rio Grande do Sul has the highest number of informants and accounts for 21.27% of the volume slaughtered nationally, only following Santa Catarina, which leads with 26.93% of this total.

In the fourth quarter of 2009, the inspected industrial establishments acquired 5.476 billion liters of milk, a volume 11.1% larger than that of the same quarter of 2008 and 11.9% larger than that of the third quarter of 2009. The amount of raw milk destined to industrialization was 5.444 billion liters, a volume 10.9% larger than the recorded in the fourth quarter of 2009, and 11.7% larger than that of the immediately previous quarter.

Minas Gerais was the main state in acquisition of milk, with 28.0% of the national total. Rio Grande do Sul holds the second position, acquiring 13.3%; next, Goiás accounts for 12.3%.

The survey counted on the participation of 2,037 informing establishments.

The acquisition of entire cattle rawhide in the fourth quarter of 2009 was 8.943 million pieces: increase of 11.4% in relation to the same period of 2008 and decrease of 2.0% in relation to the third quarter of 2009. The main sources of acquired leather (60.1%) were slaughterhouses. Just 27.9% were obtained from a third party, whereas the other sources amounted 12.0%

São Paulo was the main state in acquisition of leather, with 17.6% of total. Rio Grande do Sul comes next, with 14.9%, followed by Mato Grosso, with 13.9% of purchases of the product. The survey counted on 133 informants.

Regarding effectively industrialized leather, production was 8.966 million pieces, 10.7% larger than that of the fourth quarter of 2008 and almost the same (1.1%) as that of the third quarter of 2009. Leather industrialization was bigger than acquisition in the fourth quarter. The difference, of around 0.3% or approximately 23 thousand pieces, may be attributed to the use of stocks accumulated in previous periods

The production of hen’s eggs in the fourth quarter of 2009 was 600.872 million dozens, a 4.2% production increase over the same period of 2008 and almost stability in relation to the third quarter of 2009.

The largest production of hen’s eggs occurred in São Paulo, which concentrates 30.0% of national production. Minas Gerais had the second largest production (12.8% of total), followed by Pará (9.1%). In absolute terms, the highest production increase occurred in Mato Grosso. The survey counted on the participation of 1,553 informants.