The results, from Meat and Livestock Australia's butcher survey, also indicated that meat prices increased during the period, particularly for pork and chicken.

MLA reports that over the December quarter, 62pc of butchers noted that beef sales were "very good to excellent", and a further 26pc reported "good" sales.

This was lower than the December quarter 2007 results, when 65pc of butchers indicated "very good to excellent sales", while 25pc recorded "good" sales.

For lamb, 52pc of respondents reported "very good to excellent" sales, and 35pc reported "good" trading, compared with 58pc and 30pc, respectively, during the same time in 2007.

MLA says butchers also noted weaker sales for pork during the December quarter, with the proportion of butchers reporting "very good to excellent" results falling to 37pc, down from 42pc in 2007.

In contrast, sales of chicken increased during the period, with 55pc of respondents reporting "very good to excellent" sales, up from 46pc during the December quarter 2007.

Prices reported by the 299 butcher respondents to MLA's survey during the quarter indicated that prices of all meats increased year-on-year.

According to the survey results, average pork and chicken prices surged 10pc and 7pc, respectively, on a year ago, while beef and lamb values increased 6pc and 4pc, respectively.

Large price jumps were noted particularly for beef silverside steak (up 15pc), beef mince (up 15pc) and beef sausages (up 10pc), partly reflecting stronger demand for these items compared with the December quarter 2007.