Weekly Beef Production and Cattle Slaughter Report

Weekly beef production up 0.7%, Cattle weights up 5 lbs from last week

Weekly beef production is estimated at 524.1 million pounds, up 0.7% from last week’s 520.3 million pounds and up 3.8% from 505.1 million pounds at this time last year. Year-to-date beef production stands at 19.68 billion pounds, down 1.0% from 19.84 billion pounds last year.

Weekly cattle slaughter is estimated at 612,000 head, matching last year's figure and slightly up from 610,000 head last week. Year-to-date cattle slaughter totals 23.3 million head, down 3.9% compared to 24.2 million head last year.

Live cattle weights are estimated at 1,404 pounds, up from 1,399 pounds last week and 1,368 pounds last year. Dressed cattle weights are estimated at 858 pounds, up from 855 pounds last week and 828 pounds last year.