Everything you ever wanted to know about the red meat and livestock sector – and more – is now available to view and download from the Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) website.

The Little Book of Meat Facts is an annual compilation of key industry information and useful data.

It provides general statistics - a comprehensive overview of Welsh agriculture – followed by in-depth sections on cattle, sheep and pigs.

It will inform you of Wales’ 14,067 sheep and lamb holdings and 6,790 beef holdings. It will tell you that the value of fresh and frozen red meat exports from the UK have increased by 20 per cent in 12 months, and that France receives just over a fifth of that exported meat.

The free publication reveals that Welsh agriculture’s gross value added (GVA) stands at £811m and the total income from farming is £599m. It states that there were 23 operating livestock auction markets in Wales, which had a total throughput of over 1.6 million head of sheep and cattle last year.

It reports that farming efficiencies vary considerably across Wales, with the average lamb producer operating with costs of 237p/kg liveweight, with the top farms cutting that to 184p/kg liveweight. Looking back on the year, over 12% of lamb purchased at retail was through Butchers – which is an increase on the previous year.

If these data nibbles encourage you to go for the full 58-page feast, visit the HCC website and download the full publication which can be found here: https://meatpromotion.wales/en/news-industry-info/market-data-resources