Commercial red meat production fell sharply in April.

The USDA says the total of 4.2 billion pounds was down 8% on the year, including an 11% drop in beef production to 2.069 billion and a 4% decline in pork to 2.119 billion pounds.

Those decreases were due to tighter ready numbers limiting slaughter levels and lighter average weights. The cattle slaughter was 2.544 million head, 10% less than a year ago, with an average weight of 1,354 pounds, 19 lighter, while the hog slaughter was 9.77 million head, a decrease of 3%, with an average weight of 291 pounds, down 2.

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