United States: Beef cattle inventories drop to lowest levels in more than half-century

Published 2023년 2월 23일

Tridge summary

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has reported that beef cattle inventories are at a six-decade low, with the total head counting for 89.3 million as of January 1, a 3% decrease from the previous year. The number of beef cattle specifically has dropped by 3.6% to its lowest level since 1962, resulting in predictions of a 15% increase in consumer beef prices throughout 2023, with prices expected to stay high until 2025. This decrease is due to economic and weather challenges faced by livestock producers in 2022, leading to an 11% increase in beef cow slaughter. The downward trend in cattle production does not seem to be slowing down in 2023.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

Beef cattle inventories across the United States are at their lowest level in more than six decades, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Rising demand will mean long-term price hikes for consumers. In its biannual cattle report, USDA reported a total of 89.3 million head as of Jan. 1, about 3% lower than the total reported a year ago, and the lowest since 2015. Beef cattle, bred specifically for slaughter and meat sales, declined 3.6%, to 28.9 million head, the lowest total recorded by the agency since 1962. In “Cattle Market Notes Weekly,” a newsletter focused on the cattle industry, University of Kentucky’s Kenny Burdine and James Mitchell, extension livestock economist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said the decline came as no surprise. “There was no question that the beef cow herd had gotten smaller,” Burdine and Mitchell said. “It was just a question of how much smaller.” Global financial firm BTIG predicts that consumer ...

Source: Talkbusiness