May 26, 2008

US red meat production hits record of 4.3 billion pounds in April
 
 

Commercial red meat production during April was a record 4.297 billion pounds, up 14 percent from April 2007, according to the USDA.

The US has produced 16.77 billion pounds of commercial red meat from January to April, up 8 percent on-year.

Beef production reached 2.25 billion pounds, up from 2 billion pounds a year ago. Year to date production went up 5 percent to 8.626 billion pounds. April's slaughter count reached 2.96 million head, up 8 percent from March and up 10 percent from 2007. Average live weight also decreased 17 pounds from March to 1,259 pounds per animal.

Veal production was at 11.9 million pounds, up from 11.3 million in March. Cumulative figure for 2008 dropped 12 percent to 45.5 million pounds. Slaughter count went up 3 percent from March and increased 29 percent from April 2007 to 73,300 head. Average live weight rose 5 pounds from March but was down 70 pounds on-year.

In addition, pork production totalled 2 billion pounds, up from 1.9 billion pounds in March and 1.7 billion pounds in April 2007. Year to date total reached 8 billion pounds, up 13 percent from 2007 while slaughter count was 9.995 million head, up 3 percent from March and 18 percent on-year.