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The recent USDA Foreign Agricultural Service bulletin on Livestock and Poultry: World Markets and Trade provides a current summary of the major beef-consuming and importing countries in the world.
Beef production in 2021 is expected to total 27.95 billion pounds, up 55 million pounds from the previous month’s forecast. This increase is driven by a more rapid pace of cow and bull slaughter as well as by heavier cattle dressed weights.
In November, slaughter was higher year-over-year. While the increase in total cattle slaughter can be attributed to the additional slaughter day in November 2021 relative to a year prior, the average pace of fed cattle slaughter was higher on a per-weekday basis, with Saturday slaughter averaging lower.
Beef exports continued on a record pace in the latest data for November. Total beef exports were up 8.1% in November and are up 18.5% year over year for the first 11 months of the year.
Based on the latest USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) federally inspected Livestock Slaughter report, the inferred (federally inspected production/federally inspected head slaughtered) carcass weight for September is 827.1 pounds, while the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) weekly actual and estimated federally inspected Livestock Slaughter reports showed that the inferred weight for October was 831.8 pounds, about 4.7 pounds heavier month-over-month.
Total commercial beef production in 2021 was raised to 27.832 billion pounds from last month on anticipated heavier carcass weights and higher cow slaughter.
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) has called on Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to immediately suspend all imports of fresh beef from Brazil to the U.S.
Slaughter remains higher year-over-year. Preliminary estimated federally inspected cattle slaughter for August was up 3.1% from a year ago. Notably, the weekly estimated FI cow slaughter through Aug. 28 was up 13% year-over-year.
The week of Sept. 6, the Brazilian government announced the discovery of several atypical cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly referred to as mad cow disease.
