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John Roach
John Roach
John Roach's Blog

Forecast for Beef, Pork production lowered by USDA

The USDA trimmed its projections for beef and pork production in the monthly WASDE report released Tuesday.

The contraction of the U.S. cattle herd during the recent drought appeared to be confirmed as the USDA projected beef production for the full year at 27,009 million pounds compared to 28,359 million pounds in full-year 2022; last month’s projection was modestly higher at 27,049 million pounds.

Beginning stocks were unchanged from last month’s tally at 723 million pounds and solidly above the 676 million pounds in 2022. Prices for 2023 were pegged at $178.50 per center weight ton, unchanged from last month, but projected to jump in Q4 to $190/cwt.

Drought and searing temperatures, particularly in the Southwest, this year reportedly pushed more and lighter-weight cattle into the packing chain as pastures withered and feed costs surged. Cattle numbers are expected to remain low this year; the next Cattle on Feed Report is still more than a week away.

Drought remains prevalent in much of the Plains and the west side of the Corn Belt, and there are concerns among analysts that tight supplies of beef and overall inflation could push consumers away from higher-end cuts, or even cause them to lose their taste for beef altogether.

On the pork side, the WASDE numbers pegged pork production for the year at 27,174 million pounds, slightly down from 27,279 million pounds in the August report. Projections for 2024 were unchanged at 27,350 million pounds, which would be closer to last year’s production of 27,011 million pounds.

The export market is expected to hold up in the coming months, which should provide some welcome support for pork prices, although the firm dollar could stir up some headwinds. The WASDE report lowered its export projections for the year to 6,801 million pounds. Projections for 2024 were taken down modestly from 6,980 million pounds in August to 6,900 million pounds.

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