Monthly Livestock Slaughter

Monthly Livestock Slaughter

Beef Production: 2,105.1M lbs (up 1% yr)
Pork Production: 2,268.5M lbs (up 7% yr)
Total Red Meat: 4,385.7M lbs (up 4% yr)

Cattle Slaughter: 2.38M head (down 2% yr)

Hog Slaughter: 10.50M head (up 5% yr)

Cattle Avg Live Weight: 1,447 lbs (up 39 lbs yr)
Hog Avg Live Weight: 289 lbs (up 3 lbs yr)

Analysis 

Pork production ran 2.27 billion pounds in June, up 7 percent from a year ago, and total red meat posted its first year over year gain since December at 4 percent. June 2026 had 22 weekdays against 21 last year, so the extra slaughter day is doing some of that work.

Beef production squeaked out a 1 percent gain even with cattle slaughter down 2 percent, because carcasses keep getting heavier. Average live weight hit 1,447 pounds, up 39 from last June, and that weight gain is what has been papering over the shrinking head count all year. YTD beef is still down 5 percent while pork has flipped to up 1 percent.

August live cattle settled at 225.43, a small bounce off Wednesday’s 223.20, which was the lowest close since early December, and the market sits under all three major moving averages with RSI near 20. A close back above the 200 day at 238.50 would start repairing the damage, while a break under 223.20 puts December support near 218.50 in play. Hogs settled at 102.20, a new high for the move with RSI near 90, so a 7 percent production jump lands on a tape that was already stretched.