US cattle slaughter increases 12 percent in 2008

US cow slaughter increased last year, with beef cow slaughter registering the largest growth, according to the Livestock Marketing Information Centre (LMIC).  

Federally-inspected (FI) beef cow slaughter in 2008 totalled 3.569 million head, up 12 percent from 2007, with most of the increase occurring during the second half of the year.

FI beef cow slaughter numbers started to decline by December with weekly slaughter levels dropping sharply below a year ago during mid-January.

Based on weekly data for January 2009, US beef cow slaughter numbers could decline as the year progresses.

FI dairy cow slaughter for 2008 totalled 2.592 million head, nearly 4-percent higher from 2007, and accounting for 42 percent of the total cow slaughter.

Since late 2008, weekly dairy cow slaughter increased due to declining milk prices. Year-to-date, FI dairy cow slaughter on a weekly basis has averaged about 30-percent higher than last January, as dairy farmers sent their cows for processing to recoup their losses.

Dairy cow slaughter is estimated 32-percent higher compared to the previous five-year average. Dairy cows accounted for about 49 percent of total cow slaughter in January.

Larger imports from Canada have also contributed to the year-on-year increase in cow slaughter.

Given the large losses in the milk sector, dairy producers are expected to continue aggressively trimming herd size throughout 2009, which would contribute to a large cow slaughter this year, the LMIC said.