Beef cow slaughter this fall is down 19%

The 43-day government shutdown ended on November 13, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture is now working through the backlog of data that went unreleased during that period. Of particular importance for cattle markets were the October and November Cattle on Feed numbers, which Josh summarized in last week’s article. USDA has also resumed publishing cattle slaughter data. Weekly total cattle slaughter is now current for the week ending November 29, though slaughter by class of animal lags by two weeks, which is normal.

Tracking beef cow slaughter during the second half of the year is a good indicator of the seasonal peak in cow culling that occurs each fall, as well as any signs of early, drought-induced culling. Through November 15, beef cow slaughter totals 2.09 million head, down 18% from the same period in 2024. Fall beef cow slaughter has generally followed the pace observed earlier in the year. Looking at the 12 most recent weeks of data, from the week ending August 30 through week ending November 15, beef cow slaughter totaled 543,586 head, which is 19% lower than the same 12-week period in 2024.

Click here to continue reading

University of Arkansas

December 3, 2025