Market Reports

The spread of COVID-19 has caused shifts in the beef demand structure; coupled with global economic uncertainty, it is affecting the entire beef supply chain.

The 2020 beef production forecast for 2020 was raised by 240 million pounds to 27.7 billion pounds from the previous month. This increase is based on the pace of fed cattle slaughter and heavier expected cattle dressed weights.

Click the date to see the latest Progressive Cattleman Market watch. (PDF)

The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released its semiannual Cattle report on Jan. 31. The total number of cattle and calves on Jan. 1, 2020, was estimated at 94.4 million head, nearly 400,000 head lower than the previous year.

The 2019 fourth-quarter beef production forecast was adjusted higher by 15 million pounds from the previous month to 7 billion pounds, which raised the forecast for annual production to 27.2 billion pounds. The increase was based on a faster-than-expected pace of non-fed cattle slaughter in December, in particular beef cow slaughter.

The 2019 fourth-quarter beef production forecast was raised by 100 million pounds from the previous month to nearly 7 billion pounds. This raised the forecast for annual production to 27.1 billion pounds.