A Mid-Year Look at Cattle Slaughter Trends

Jul 17, 2026

By Dr. Kenny Burdine

In early June, I wrote an article focused on beef cow slaughter, which can be found here. In that article, I noted that the pace of beef cow slaughter in 2026 was on track to reach the lowest level on record. As I write this in mid-July, that statement still stands. After harvesting more than 500,000 fewer beef cows in 2025, beef cow slaughter has been down by over 15% thus far in 2026. Since weekly data is now available through June, I wanted to expand this discussion by also looking at steer, heifer, and dairy cow slaughter through the first half of the year.

In total, federally inspected cattle slaughter is down by 7.8% thus far in 2026. If that percentage held through the end of the year, it would be the largest percentage decrease since 2004. Certainly, a 15.5% decrease in beef cow slaughter is a major factor behind this reduction, but it is also noteworthy that steer and heifer slaughter are down significantly as well. Through the first six months of the year, steer slaughter is down by 6.9% and heifer slaughter is down by 10.9%.

Source : osu.edu

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