March 26, 2007

US red meat production up 4 percent in February
 

The United States Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service reports that commercial red meat in the US during February 2007 totalled 3.615 billion pounds, compared to 4.092 billion in January and 3.490 billion for February 2006.

USDA statistics show that year to date, commercial red meat slaughter is 7.708 billion pounds, up 4 percent from the first two months of 2006. Federally inspected red meat production came out at 3.573 billion pounds, down 12 percent from a month ago, but up 4 percent from a year ago. Cumulative January/February 2007 federal red meat production was also 4 percent larger than the previous year at 7.618 billion pounds.

Beef production was reported at 1.953 billion pounds, compared to 2.164 billion last month and 1.827 billion last year. For the year to date, production is 4.117 billion pounds or 6 percent greater than January/February 2006. Cattle slaughter for February 2007 was 2.562 million head, compared to 2.799 million in January and 2.347 million during February 2006. Total slaughter for the year to date is 5.360 million head, compared to 4.989 million for the same period last year. The average live weight was 1,274 pounds, 16 pounds lighter than a month ago and down 10 from a year ago. The average for the year thus far is 1,282 pounds.

Pork production came out at 1.636 billion pounds, compared to 1.898 billion a month ago and 1.637 billion a year ago. The year to date production is 3.535 billion pounds, compared to 3.458 billion for January/February 2006. There were 8.117 million head slaughtered during February 2007, compared to 9.366 million for January and 8.056 million in February 2006. The cumulative 2007 slaughter is at 17.482 million head or 3% more than a year ago. The average live weight was 269 pounds, down 2 from both last month and last year. For the year to date, the average live weight is 270 pounds.

Lamb and mutton production for February 2007 was 14.4 million pounds, compared to 15.1 million in January and 14.7 million during February 2006. Increasing production for the first two months of the year is 29.5 million pounds, down 5 percent from a year ago. There were a total of 204,400 head slaughtered, compared to 216,700 last month and 202,200 last year, which brings the year to date total to 421.1 million head, 1 percent lower than a year ago. The average live weight was 140 pounds, up 1 from last month but down 4 from last year. The average weight for January/February 2007 was 140 pounds.

Around 54,900 meat goats slaughtered in February 2007, compared to 58,900 for January and 46,800 during February 2006. The year to date slaughter is 113,800 head or 4 percent more than a year ago while the average live weight of 62 pounds was 2 lighter than last month and 3 less than last year. The year to date average live weight is 63 pounds.