By Jennifer Dorsett
Field Editor
Commercial red meat production for December 2020 was up 3 percent over the same period in 2019 and the highest ever recorded, according to the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service Livestock Slaughter report.
Beef and pork production were both up 3 percent over December a year ago at 2.32 billion pounds and 2.51 billion pounds, respectively.
“Right now, we have a large cattle inventory, and cattle are bigger. So, there’s more tonnage going into the supply chain,” Tracy Tomascik, Texas Farm Bureau associate director of Commodity and Regulatory Activities, said. “But we’ve seen really good profit margins on beef in the last couple of months, and pork prices are pretty good, as well. Globally, the supply of pigs is relatively small. That domestic demand combined with exports generally means solid prices for producers.”
Beef slaughter numbers rose 1 percent from December 2019 to 2.78 million head, with the average live weight up 16 pounds from the previous year to 1,389 pounds. Cattle weights are trending heavier, a movement Tomascik said is due to heavier cattle placements and longer feeding periods.
Although cattle prices fell to 10-year lows early in the COVID-19 pandemic, continued consumer demand for at-home meals has kept retail red meat sales steady and allowed for recent price improvement in fed cattle, he noted.
For the entire calendar year of 2020, commercial red meat production was 55.7 billion pounds, up 1 percent from 2019.
And 2021 is off to a strong start.
“The beef industry is set to produce a record amount of beef again this month, and I’ve read it’s selling for the highest January wholesale prices since 2014,” he said. “Red meat is in high demand. That’s good for both our crop farmers and livestock raisers.”