The federally inspected slaughter for June was strong, exceeding the three previous years. More heifers and cows were in the slaughter mix in June, causing the average carcass weight to drop below the previous month’s expectations.

The July USDA Cattle on Feed report shows July feedlot inventories of 11.29 million head, down 1.3% from last year and down 1.7% compared to 2019.

As reported by the U.S. Drought Monitor on May 4, 2021, 66% of the country was experiencing some level of drought, compared to just 31% the same week last year (see Figure 1).

The latest USDA Cattle on Feed report pegs May 1 feedlot inventories at 11.725 million head, 104.7% of last year. A more useful comparison is to 2019 levels with the 2021 May 1 total down 0.7% from May 2019.

Preliminary March 2021 federally inspected slaughter volume was up by 75,000 head from a year ago, totaling 2.95 million head, due to one extra slaughter day relative to March 2020.

The April USDA Cattle on Feed report requires careful interpretation. The typical year-to-year comparisons are mostly meaningless because of the pandemic disruptions affecting markets one year ago.

The severe winter event in mid-February that dipped as far south as Texas disrupted packing plant operations, further-processing facilities and delivery of cattle to plants.

The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released its semiannual Cattle report on Jan. 29. The total number of cattle and calves on Jan. 1, 2021, was estimated at 93.6 million head, nearly 200,000 head lower than the previous year.

In 2020, the U.S. exported $7.6 billion in beef and variety meat products (down 6% from 2019); variety meat exports to all partners accounted for 11.8% of that value, down from 12.4% in 2019.

The February Cattle on Feed report from the USDA showed a Feb. 1 feedlot inventory of 12.1 million head, 101.5% of one year ago. January placements were 2.017 million head, up 3.2% year over year.