Packing Plants Quickly Returning To Year-Ago Capacity

Jun 03, 2020

Beef processing is nearing year-ago capacity quicker than many experts predicted and Dr. Derrell Peel, OSU Extension livestock market economist explains why in today’s Beef Buzz with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays.

We’ve made remarkable progress, faster than many thought, Peel said, and packers have plenty of incentive to get back to capacity as quickly as possible.

Estimated weekly slaughter is about 89 percent of one year ago and Peel said the carcass weights are 40 to 50 pounds heavier than normal, causing some difficulties with catching up on the backlog.

The heavier carcass weights this year are equal to adding about 30,000 head to the weekly slaughter as compared to a year ago, Peel said.

That’s helping ease the beef shortages in the near term but eventually the heavy weight cattle need to move through the system.

Peel predicts on the consumer side most of the meat supply should return to normal in the next couple of weeks, but it could take months for the feedlots to get through the backlog.

On the demand side, wholesale boxed beef prices have dropped $100 and Peel expects the price to come down more but volatility in the market coupled with uncertain economic times makes it difficult to predict how low the boxed beef prices will go.

At some point the reality of unemployment kicks in and that could play a role in reducing beef demand, Peel said.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.