The USDA says February 2021 commercial red meat production was 4.387 billion pounds, 1% less than in February 2020. Part of the decline can be linked to a slowdown in livestock transportation and processing caused by Winter Storm Uri.
Beef production was 2.105 billion pounds, down 1%, with a 2% reduction in slaughter to 2.473 million head canceling out a 14-pound gain in the average live weight at 1,390 pounds. The dairy cow slaughter for February 2021 was 265,200 head, down 12.1 million from January and 9,000 from February 2020.
