After over five years in overall growth in U. S. meat production, numbers are trending down in one major type of meat….beef. USDA Economist Seth Meyer says production of all other types of meat seem to be increasing. He gives some reasons why:
The drought this past year left beef cattle producers with out enough pastures or hay to maintain all their cattle over the winter, so they have been marketing more cattle than normal, earlier than normal, leaving the herd smaller than in years past. In order to build the herd back, producers need the drought to ease. That could take up to two to three years.
