Beef Slaughter Capacity Utilization

Jul 03, 2025

By Charley Martinez and Chris Boyer

In recent months, there have been Southern Ag Today articles discussing the impacts of tight fed cattle supplies on prices, cattle on feed, slaughter weights, and total beef production (Anderson 2025a, Anderson 2025b, Maples 2025).

Each of the articles mentioned has highlighted the unique and historical differences between the current market and years past. One aspect that has not been covered, but is important, is slaughter capacity utilization (CU).

In Martinez et al. (2023), we show how we measure slaughter capacity utilization, which measures the ratio of operational cattle slaughter capacity over physical capacity. Figure 1 displays the monthly national federally inspected (FI) slaughter capacity utilization.

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Video: Sow Welfare and Group Housing Systems - Dr. Laya Alves

In this episode of The Swine it Podcast Show Canada, Dr. Laya Alves from the University of São Paulo, in Brazil, discusses how animal welfare regulations are evolving globally and their impact on pig production systems. She explains challenges in group housing, pain management, and euthanasia decisions, while highlighting the role of training and management in improving outcomes and economic sustainability. Listen now on all major platforms!

"Translating welfare requirements into daily farm routines without compromising economic sustainability remains one of the biggest challenges faced by producers globally today."

Meet the guest: Dr. Laya Alves / laya-kannan is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of São Paulo, Brazil, focusing on animal welfare in pig production, including pain management, euthanasia, and economic decision making. Her work integrates welfare science with practical farm management and sustainability. She collaborates globally to develop applied tools for producers.