Weekly cattle slaughter began 2023 trending lower than a year ago. Beef cow slaughter, heifer slaughter, and steer slaughter have each begun 2023 with lower slaughter totals than in 2022.
The recent decline in beef cow slaughter is perhaps the most interesting given the large cow slaughter totals seen in 2022. Drought and higher input costs relative to calf prices lead to really high beef cow slaughter in 2022 (about 11 percent above 2023). However, beef cow slaughter has moderated to begin 2023 as shown in the chart above.
Over the first 10…
