November 4, 2004

US Beef Production Falls 12% in September

Beef production in the United States was 9 per cent lower in the calendar year to September compared with the same period last year. This is in spite of a steady rise in US cattle carcase weights over the past five months

The 19kg rise to 351kg in cattle carcase weights between April and September was in line with a buildup of market-ready cattle in US feedlots.

The increased carcase weight has only partially offset the decline in US cattle slaughter, which totalled 2.7 million head in September. The figure was 12 per cent below year-earlier levels.

In the calendar year to September, US cattle slaughter was 9 per cent below levels a year ago.

The absence of Canadian cows, feeder cattle and fed cattle supplies as well as fall in US cow and heifer turn-off (for herd rebuilding) have largely contributed to the decline in US cattle slaughter this year.

Heifers accounted for the majority of the decline in the calendar year to September, with slaughter falling 11 per cent (937,000 head) from last year, while steer slaughter fell 5 per cent.

The decline in heifers was in line with the July 1, 2004 US cattle inventory figures, which recorded a 0.3 per cent rise in heifers on-farm. Heifer retention is typically one of the first signals of producers' intentions to increase herd numbers.