Red Meat Production Up for Year, Off in November

WASHINGTON — There was good news and bad news regarding commercial red meat production so far this year. The good news is commercial red meat production from January to November 2008 was 46.1 billion pounds, up 3 percent from 2007; accumulated beef production was up 1 percent from last year; veal was up 2 percent; and pork was up 7 percent from last year.

However, lamb and mutton production was down 5 percent, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.

And in comparing November 2008 to November 2007, commercial red meat production for the U.S. totaled 3.87 billion pounds, down 10 percent from the 4.30 billion pounds produced last November.

Reaching 1.96 billion pounds, beef production was 12 percent below the November 2007 total. Cattle slaughter totaled 2.52 million head, down 11 percent from November 2007. The average live weight was down 2 pounds from the previous year, at 1,302 pounds.

Source: MeatPoultry.com