Losses and Wastage in Farm Livestock

Abstract

IN the past, material for the estimation of the wastage and losses in farm livestock has been collected from the records obtained from survey farms. Another source of valuable information on the question can be obtained from the knackeries which are found in most livestock areas in Great Britain. A West Wales knackery was able to supply a full record of the intake for four years 1942–45 with particulars of the date, source and description into the following categories: cows, horses and other cattle (bulls, steers and heifers). The smaller farm animals—calves, sheep and pigs—were not collected by the knackery as they were considered too small to cover transport costs. This knackery has a collecting area of roughly twenty miles radius. The examination of the records show that a total of 3,116 animals (30 per cent of them alive) was collected during the four years. The following table gives the details of the annual intake for each year.