A lot has been written about beef cow culling this year due to widespread drought in the Western half of the country and high costs relative to calf prices. Most of that has focused nationally. This article focuses on cow slaughter in the Southern Plains. Federally inspected beef and dairy cow slaughter is reported regionally, with states grouped into roughly geographical regions. Region 6 includes Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, and New Mexico.
Cow packing plants in region 6 have processed 668,000 beef cows this year, up 31 percent (or 157,000 head) from last year. They…
