At mid-week last week, all major packing facilities were operating. Overall, it was estimated that capacity was at 70 percent, with hog processing down 24 percent and beef down 31 percent. That all plants are running is big news. Livestock producers are still dealing with dire situations on the farm, however. It was estimated on May 11 there were 1.8 million hogs in the United States that should have already been harvested.
Similarly, it’s estimated that there are 900,000 market-ready cattle waiting on farms and ranches. With processors running, albeit at less than capacity, it’s easy to think that retail meat cases should be filling back up soon.
As mentioned in previous Market Updates, the Actual Slaughter Under Federal Inspection reports released by the USDA lag by 2 weeks. Actual cattle harvest for the week ending May 2, totaled 438,614 head, compared to 470,129 head for the week ending April 25. Hog harvest for the week ending May 2 was 1,539,952 head, down from 1,991,463 the previous week.
Dairy cow harvest was 58,467 head compared to 62,972 the previous week. All cows made up 25.4 percent of the total cattle harvested the week ending May 2. Dairy cows specifically made up 13.3 percent of the total. Cow numbers made up a larger percentage, but as a result of fewer fed cattle harvested, rather than a larger run of cows. The official numbers will start getting larger the week ending May 17 barring any further capacity setbacks.
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