Livestock Slaughter ISSN: 0499-0544 Released January 25, 2024, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Record Low Veal and Lamb and Mutton Production in December December 2022 contained 22 weekdays (including 1 holiday) and 5 Saturdays. December 2023 contained 21 weekdays (including 1 holiday) and 5 Saturdays. Commercial red meat production for the United States totaled 4.55 billion pounds in December, up 2 percent from the 4.47 billion pounds produced in December 2022. Beef production, at 2.19 billion pounds, was 2 percent below the previous year. Cattle slaughter totaled 2.59 million head, down 3 percent from December 2022. The average live weight was up 17 pounds from the previous year, at 1,401 pounds. Veal production totaled 3.9 million pounds, 14 percent below December a year ago. Calf slaughter totaled 22,500 head, down 32 percent from December 2022. The average live weight was up 56 pounds from last year, at 293 pounds. Pork production totaled 2.34 billion pounds, up 5 percent from the previous year. Hog slaughter totaled 10.8 million head, up 5 percent from December 2022. The average live weight was down 1 pound from the previous year, at 291 pounds. Lamb and mutton production, at 10.7 million pounds, was down 3 percent from December 2022. Sheep slaughter totaled 182,400 head, 2 percent above last year. The average live weight was 115 pounds, down 7 pounds from December a year ago. January to December 2023 commercial red meat production was 54.4 billion pounds, down 2 percent from 2022. Accumulated beef production was down 5 percent from last year, veal was down 11 percent, pork was up 1 percent from last year, and lamb and mutton production was down 1 percent. This page intentionally left blank. Contents Commercial Red Meat Production - United States.......................................... 4 Federally Inspected Red Meat Production - United States................................. 4 Livestock Slaughter and Average Live Weight - United States............................. 5 Commercial Red Meat Production - States and United States............................... 6 Commercial Cattle Slaughter - States and United States: December 2022 and 2023.......... 7 Commercial Calf Slaughter - States and United States: December 2022 and 2023............ 8 Commercial Hog Slaughter - States and United States: December 2022 and 2023............. 9 Commercial Sheep and Lamb Slaughter - States and United States: December 2022 and 2023.. 10 Livestock Slaughtered Under Federal Inspection by Class - United States................. 11 Federally Inspected Slaughter Average Dressed Weight by Class - United States........... 11 Federally Inspected Slaughter - Regions and United States: December 2023................ 12 Federally Inspected Slaughter - Regions and United States: January to December 2023..... 13 Federally Inspected Slaughter Percent of Total Commercial Slaughter - United States..... 13 Terms and Definitions Used for Livestock Slaughter Estimates............................ 14 Statistical Methodology................................................................. 15 Information Contacts.................................................................... 16 Commercial Red Meat Production - United States [Totals, accumulated totals, and percentages based on unrounded data] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : :December 2023 as % of : January to December : December : November : December :---------------------------------------------------- Type : 2022 : 2023 : 2023 : December : November : : :2023 as % : : : : 2022 : 2023 : 2022 : 2023 : of 2022 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ------- million pounds ------ --- percent -- million pounds percent : Beef .............: 2,225.6 2,280.9 2,189.8 98 96 28,291.2 26,964.3 95 Veal .............: 4.5 4.3 3.9 86 90 53.9 47.9 89 Pork .............: 2,230.1 2,388.2 2,342.0 105 98 26,995.6 27,299.5 101 Lamb and mutton ..: 11.0 11.2 10.7 97 96 131.6 129.6 99 : Total red meat ...: 4,471.1 4,684.5 4,546.3 102 97 55,472.2 54,441.4 98 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Federally Inspected Red Meat Production - United States [Totals, accumulated totals, and percentages based on unrounded data] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : :December 2023 as % of : January to December : December : November : December :---------------------------------------------------- Type : 2022 : 2023 : 2023 : December : November : : :2023 as % : : : : 2022 : 2023 : 2022 : 2023 : of 2022 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ------- million pounds ------ --- percent -- million pounds percent : Beef .............: 2,193.7 2,247.3 2,158.9 98 96 27,838.8 26,547.2 95 Veal .............: 4.4 4.1 3.7 85 91 52.5 46.5 89 Pork .............: 2,220.4 2,377.4 2,332.4 105 98 26,870.6 27,176.4 101 Lamb and mutton ..: 9.8 10.1 9.5 97 94 116.2 114.3 98 : Total red meat ...: 4,428.4 4,638.9 4,504.6 102 97 54,878.0 53,884.4 98 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Livestock Slaughter and Average Live Weight - United States [Totals, accumulated totals, and percentages based on unrounded data] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : : December : January to December : December : November : December : 2023 as % :-------------------------------------------- Species : 2022 : 2023 : 2023 : of 2022 : : : 2023 as % : : : : : 2022 : 2023 : of 2022 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : percent percent : Cattle : Number of head : Federally inspected ..1,000: 2,638.1 2,681.3 2,548.7 97 33,666.4 32,232.5 96 Other ................1,000: 46.6 48.6 44.7 96 658.9 607.1 92 Commercial ...........1,000: 2,684.7 2,729.9 2,593.4 97 34,325.3 32,839.5 96 Average live weight : Federally inspected .pounds: 1,388 1,390 1,404 101 1,372 1,368 100 Other ...............pounds: 1,212 1,214 1,220 101 1,210 1,213 100 Commercial ..........pounds: 1,384 1,387 1,401 101 1,369 1,365 100 : Calves : Number of head : Federally inspected ..1,000: 32.4 23.4 21.8 67 362.2 285.7 79 Other ................1,000: 0.5 0.8 0.6 133 7.1 7.5 107 Commercial ...........1,000: 32.9 24.2 22.5 68 369.2 293.2 79 Average live weight : Federally inspected .pounds: 236 300 292 124 251 278 111 Other ...............pounds: 332 334 323 98 367 354 96 Commercial ..........pounds: 237 301 293 123 253 280 111 : Hogs : Number of head : Federally inspected ..1,000: 10,246.5 11,082.6 10,775.8 105 124,673.6 127,334.0 102 Other ................1,000: 52.5 56.3 49.7 95 648.1 635.1 98 Commercial ...........1,000: 10,299.0 11,138.9 10,825.5 105 125,321.7 127,969.1 102 Average live weight : Federally inspected .pounds: 292 289 291 100 290 287 99 Other ...............pounds: 251 263 264 105 265 267 101 Commercial ..........pounds: 292 289 291 100 289 287 99 : Sheep and lambs : Number of head : Federally inspected ..1,000: 154.4 168.4 159.7 103 1,758.7 1,838.8 105 Other ................1,000: 24.1 21.2 22.8 95 312.9 310.2 99 Commercial ...........1,000: 178.5 189.7 182.4 102 2,071.6 2,149.0 104 Average live weight : Federally inspected .pounds: 126 118 117 93 131 123 94 Other ...............pounds: 96 100 99 104 98 98 100 Commercial ..........pounds: 122 116 115 95 126 119 95 : Goats : Number of head : Federally inspected ..1,000: 47.0 47.5 51.2 109 499.2 527.9 106 Other ................1,000: 11.8 10.3 11.6 99 108.1 107.3 99 Commercial ...........1,000: 58.8 57.7 62.8 107 607.3 635.2 105 Average live weight : Federally inspected .pounds: 65 63 63 97 65 64 99 Other ...............pounds: 85 85 79 93 85 85 100 Commercial ..........pounds: 69 67 66 96 68 68 99 : Bison : Number of head : Federally inspected ..1,000: 6.4 6.6 6.2 97 72.2 75.2 104 Other ................1,000: 0.3 0.3 0.3 130 3.0 3.4 114 Commercial ...........1,000: 6.6 6.9 6.5 98 75.1 78.6 105 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Commercial Red Meat Production - States and United States [Includes total beef, veal, pork, lamb, and mutton. Totals and percentages based on unrounded data] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- State : December : November : December :December 2023 as : 2022 : 2023 : 2023 : % of 2022 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ----------- million pounds ---------- percent : Alabama ...............: 1.1 1.2 1.1 101 Alaska ................: 0.1 (Y) (Y) (X) Arizona ...............: 39.6 40.5 36.7 93 Arkansas ..............: 0.4 0.5 0.4 123 California ............: 153.1 104.4 101.2 66 Colorado ..............: 156.3 172.5 161.4 103 Delaware-Maryland .....: 2.7 2.6 2.5 91 Florida ...............: 6.2 7.2 5.3 85 Georgia ...............: 14.2 12.6 12.8 90 Hawaii ................: 0.8 0.8 0.7 84 : Idaho .................: 34.1 43.9 40.0 118 Illinois ..............: 262.4 283.0 287.4 110 Indiana ...............: 159.4 165.6 158.4 99 Iowa ..................: 687.1 796.9 784.3 114 Kansas ................: 483.4 480.7 481.1 100 Kentucky ..............: 49.8 56.0 54.1 108 Louisiana .............: 0.3 0.3 0.3 84 Michigan ..............: 106.8 120.4 111.5 104 Minnesota .............: 239.3 244.7 228.7 96 Mississippi ...........: 0.7 0.8 0.8 105 : Missouri ..............: 166.2 187.9 180.7 109 Montana ...............: 2.2 4.0 1.9 84 Nebraska ..............: 624.5 669.5 660.1 106 Nevada ................: (Y) 0.1 (Y) (X) New England 1/ ........: 2.6 2.9 2.8 104 New Jersey ............: 4.1 3.9 4.1 101 New Mexico ............: 0.4 0.4 0.3 88 New York ..............: 3.5 3.2 3.1 89 North Carolina ........: 248.8 232.0 223.9 90 North Dakota ..........: 0.7 0.5 0.6 81 : Ohio ..................: 22.5 24.6 23.6 105 Oklahoma ..............: 104.3 95.8 98.0 94 Oregon ................: 2.5 2.5 2.2 87 Pennsylvania ..........: 129.6 136.9 129.4 100 South Carolina ........: 15.3 16.3 15.2 100 South Dakota ..........: 117.1 132.0 127.8 109 Tennessee .............: 25.3 26.6 26.3 104 Texas .................: 371.8 378.6 361.6 97 Utah ..................: 42.7 47.4 44.0 103 Virginia ..............: 1.3 1.3 1.3 98 : Washington ............: 78.5 75.4 73.1 93 West Virginia .........: 1.0 1.2 1.1 111 Wisconsin .............: 107.5 106.0 95.9 89 Wyoming ...............: 0.8 0.9 0.7 84 : United States .........: 4,471.1 4,684.5 4,546.3 102 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (X) Not applicable. (Y) Less than level of precision shown. 1/ New England includes Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Commercial Cattle Slaughter - States and United States: December 2022 and 2023 [Data may not add to totals due to rounding] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Slaughtered : Total live weight : Average live weight State :-------------------------------------------------------------------- : 2022 : 2023 : 2022 : 2023 : 2022 : 2023 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ---- 1,000 head --- --- 1,000 pounds --- ---- pounds ---- : Alabama ..........: 1.0 0.6 1,054 702 1,085 1,116 Alaska ...........: 0.1 0.1 79 71 1,101 1,132 Arizona ..........: 45.6 40.9 64,471 59,449 1,418 1,454 Arkansas .........: 0.5 0.6 539 637 1,064 1,061 California .......: 137.0 111.9 183,372 153,567 1,347 1,383 Colorado .........: 171.7 174.0 245,366 253,199 1,430 1,456 Delaware-Maryland : 2.6 2.4 3,734 3,366 1,409 1,407 Florida ..........: 10.1 8.0 11,705 9,831 1,167 1,227 Georgia ..........: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) Hawaii ...........: 1.1 0.9 1,362 1,119 1,230 1,194 : Idaho ............: 47.0 54.2 59,891 67,904 1,281 1,258 Illinois .........: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) Indiana ..........: 3.9 3.6 4,699 4,342 1,205 1,205 Iowa .............: 44.8 44.8 63,173 64,346 1,412 1,437 Kansas ...........: 535.9 530.6 752,707 748,613 1,405 1,411 Kentucky .........: 5.7 5.5 6,219 6,154 1,102 1,114 Louisiana ........: 0.5 0.4 377 388 807 889 Michigan .........: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) Minnesota ........: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) Mississippi ......: 0.5 0.5 433 462 947 1,010 : Missouri .........: 26.5 27.6 30,788 30,959 1,169 1,127 Montana ..........: 2.8 2.2 3,481 2,696 1,223 1,249 Nebraska .........: 545.2 549.8 803,896 820,544 1,476 1,494 Nevada ...........: (Y) (Y) (X) (X) (X) (X) New England 1/ ...: 3.1 2.9 3,435 3,479 1,123 1,191 New Jersey .......: 4.2 4.3 4,827 4,902 1,148 1,151 New Mexico .......: 0.4 0.4 475 461 1,124 1,036 New York .........: 3.7 3.6 4,406 4,249 1,199 1,193 North Carolina ...: 5.9 6.0 7,239 7,449 1,233 1,238 North Dakota .....: 0.9 0.7 1,136 896 1,310 1,306 : Ohio .............: 5.8 5.8 7,721 7,667 1,331 1,332 Oklahoma .........: 4.4 5.4 5,348 6,223 1,228 1,179 Oregon ...........: 1.9 1.4 2,153 1,707 1,125 1,240 Pennsylvania .....: 89.8 85.5 112,326 110,634 1,258 1,299 South Carolina ...: 22.7 22.0 29,283 29,329 1,293 1,342 South Dakota .....: 37.3 34.8 53,327 50,918 1,439 1,473 Tennessee ........: 3.0 3.1 2,884 3,062 985 994 Texas ............: 463.6 445.6 613,635 593,106 1,327 1,335 Utah .............: 47.7 47.8 66,616 68,710 1,397 1,438 Virginia .........: 1.5 1.6 1,682 1,610 1,088 1,038 : Washington .......: 93.0 82.1 129,431 118,619 1,394 1,448 West Virginia ....: 1.3 1.5 1,360 1,572 1,022 1,043 Wisconsin ........: 118.0 102.8 164,627 144,125 1,403 1,410 Wyoming ..........: 1.1 1.0 1,264 1,081 1,166 1,135 : United States ....: 2,684.7 2,593.4 3,708,554 3,625,443 1,384 1,401 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (D) Withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual operations. (X) Not applicable. (Y) Less than level of precision shown. 1/ New England includes Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Commercial Calf Slaughter - States and United States: December 2022 and 2023 [Data may not add to totals due to rounding] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Slaughtered : Total live weight : Average live weight State :-------------------------------------------------------------------- : 2022 : 2023 : 2022 : 2023 : 2022 : 2023 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : -- 1,000 head -- 1,000 pounds --- pounds --- : Alabama ..........: (Y) (Y) (X) (X) (X) (X) Alaska ...........: (D) (Y) (D) (X) (D) (X) Arizona ..........: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) Arkansas .........: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) California .......: 2.6 (D) 261 (D) 102 (D) Colorado .........: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) Delaware-Maryland : (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) Florida ..........: 0.2 (D) 85 (D) 425 (D) Georgia ..........: 0.2 0.1 87 60 480 458 Hawaii ...........: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) : Idaho ............: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) Illinois .........: 0.1 0.3 37 106 362 409 Indiana ..........: 0.7 0.6 298 242 441 401 Iowa .............: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) Kansas ...........: (Y) (Y) (X) (X) (X) (X) Kentucky .........: (Y) (Y) (X) (X) (X) (X) Louisiana ........: (D) (Y) (D) (X) (D) (X) Michigan .........: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) Minnesota ........: (D) (Y) (D) (X) (D) (X) Mississippi ......: (Y) (D) (X) (D) (X) (D) : Missouri .........: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) Montana ..........: (Y) (Y) (X) (X) (X) (X) Nebraska .........: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) Nevada ...........: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) New England 1/ ...: 0.2 0.2 45 55 259 314 New Jersey .......: 1.4 1.6 547 588 381 379 New Mexico .......: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) New York .........: 5.4 2.6 497 236 93 92 North Carolina ...: 0.1 0.1 34 44 318 354 North Dakota .....: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) : Ohio .............: 9.1 3.9 1,237 1,046 136 268 Oklahoma .........: (Y) (Y) (X) (X) (X) (X) Oregon ...........: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) Pennsylvania .....: 7.0 7.8 3,051 3,466 438 445 South Carolina ...: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) South Dakota .....: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) Tennessee ........: (D) (Y) (D) (X) (D) (X) Texas ............: 0.1 0.1 48 23 435 407 Utah .............: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) Virginia .........: 0.1 0.1 27 38 289 277 : Washington .......: (Y) (D) (X) (D) (X) (D) West Virginia ....: (Y) (Y) (X) (X) (X) (X) Wisconsin ........: 2.3 0.1 1,096 46 480 493 Wyoming ..........: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) : United States ....: 32.9 22.5 7,757 6,545 237 293 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (D) Withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual operations. (X) Not applicable. (Y) Less than level of precision shown. 1/ New England includes Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Commercial Hog Slaughter - States and United States: December 2022 and 2023 [Data may not add to totals due to rounding] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Slaughtered : Total live weight : Average live weight State :-------------------------------------------------------------------- : 2022 : 2023 : 2022 : 2023 : 2022 : 2023 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ---- 1,000 head ---- --- 1,000 pounds --- --- pounds --- : Alabama ..........: 1.9 2.5 798 1,079 415 436 Alaska ...........: 0.1 (Y) 17 (X) 281 (X) Arizona ..........: (Y) (Y) (X) (X) (X) (X) Arkansas .........: 0.2 0.4 61 100 292 278 California .......: 236.4 82.9 64,574 18,678 273 226 Colorado .........: 3.5 4.1 510 488 148 121 Delaware-Maryland : 2.0 1.9 536 519 262 266 Florida ..........: 4.6 5.0 598 579 129 116 Georgia ..........: 5.6 5.2 1,525 1,430 272 273 Hawaii ...........: 0.2 0.1 43 35 261 254 : Idaho ............: 12.0 12.8 3,481 3,228 290 253 Illinois .........: 935.7 1,048.7 269,535 302,592 288 289 Indiana ..........: 743.5 747.1 208,810 208,156 281 279 Iowa .............: 3,055.8 3,449.2 879,350 1,007,536 288 292 Kansas ...........: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) Kentucky .........: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) Louisiana ........: 0.5 0.2 76 30 149 196 Michigan .........: 301.5 332.7 89,810 99,020 298 298 Minnesota ........: 983.1 966.7 276,855 272,365 282 282 Mississippi ......: 4.0 4.2 636 667 157 160 : Missouri .........: 676.8 730.8 201,579 221,034 298 303 Montana ..........: 1.4 1.3 400 366 286 283 Nebraska .........: 593.0 688.3 172,291 201,746 291 293 Nevada ...........: (Y) (Y) (X) (X) (X) (X) New England 1/ ...: 2.3 2.6 606 694 268 264 New Jersey .......: 11.0 11.1 914 934 83 84 New Mexico .......: 0.2 0.1 40 31 244 255 New York .........: 2.4 1.9 580 464 240 241 North Carolina ...: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) North Dakota .....: 0.3 0.2 91 66 302 315 : Ohio .............: 79.5 84.8 23,129 24,677 291 291 Oklahoma .........: 455.9 419.3 134,131 123,483 294 294 Oregon ...........: 4.6 4.6 1,323 1,169 290 254 Pennsylvania .....: 288.0 288.2 82,467 83,098 286 288 South Carolina ...: 4.2 3.7 876 760 210 208 South Dakota .....: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) Tennessee ........: 80.5 82.5 35,774 36,998 445 449 Texas ............: 26.5 26.6 6,245 4,931 236 185 Utah .............: (D) 2.4 (D) 609 (D) 251 Virginia .........: (D) 1.2 (D) 382 (D) 322 : Washington .......: 1.4 (D) 375 (D) 261 (D) West Virginia ....: 0.7 0.7 200 199 284 297 Wisconsin ........: 66.0 67.5 28,668 28,955 435 430 Wyoming ..........: 0.2 0.2 46 50 267 250 : United States ....: 10,299.0 10,825.5 3,001,367 3,149,370 292 291 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (D) Withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual operations. (X) Not applicable. (Y) Less than level of precision shown. 1/ New England includes Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Commercial Sheep and Lamb Slaughter - States and United States: December 2022 and 2023 [Data may not add to totals due to rounding] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Slaughtered : Total live weight : Average live weight State :-------------------------------------------------------------------- : 2022 : 2023 : 2022 : 2023 : 2022 : 2023 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : --- 1,000 head -- -- 1,000 pounds -- --- pounds --- : Alabama ..........: (D) (Y) (D) (X) (D) (X) Alaska ...........: (Y) (Y) (X) (X) (X) (X) Arizona ..........: 0.1 0.7 10 76 98 108 Arkansas .........: 0.1 0.1 8 14 114 95 California .......: 24.0 25.3 3,598 3,597 150 142 Colorado .........: 31.4 32.4 5,115 4,932 163 152 Delaware-Maryland : 2.0 1.8 198 166 99 95 Florida ..........: 2.5 3.0 128 155 51 52 Georgia ..........: 1.6 (D) 109 (D) 66 (D) Hawaii ...........: 0.1 0.1 9 13 137 133 : Idaho ............: 0.3 0.2 44 24 152 139 Illinois .........: 6.4 6.8 549 583 85 86 Indiana ..........: 6.3 6.1 695 614 111 101 Iowa .............: 0.1 0.2 21 19 148 125 Kansas ...........: 0.3 0.3 30 34 90 100 Kentucky .........: 1.2 1.3 117 135 101 101 Louisiana ........: 0.8 0.8 41 47 53 58 Michigan .........: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) Minnesota ........: 0.6 0.8 53 59 82 77 Mississippi ......: 0.1 0.1 9 7 84 66 : Missouri .........: 0.7 0.8 63 71 85 84 Montana ..........: 0.4 0.4 54 58 128 132 Nebraska .........: (Y) (Y) (X) (X) (X) (X) Nevada ...........: (Y) (Y) (X) (X) (X) (X) New England 1/ ...: 4.5 4.9 403 452 89 92 New Jersey .......: 17.3 15.7 1,415 1,283 82 82 New Mexico .......: 0.6 0.5 87 72 141 135 New York .........: 7.2 7.0 692 600 96 85 North Carolina ...: 2.5 3.6 160 232 63 64 North Dakota .....: (Y) 0.1 (X) 9 (X) 140 : Ohio .............: 4.0 4.8 642 730 159 153 Oklahoma .........: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) Oregon ...........: 4.1 4.1 510 598 125 146 Pennsylvania .....: 10.5 13.1 1,077 1,262 102 97 South Carolina ...: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) South Dakota .....: 0.3 0.2 42 28 141 121 Tennessee ........: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) Texas ............: 21.6 22.7 2,345 2,330 108 103 Utah .............: 1.8 1.3 245 174 140 135 Virginia .........: 0.9 1.3 64 96 70 73 : Washington .......: 1.2 1.2 163 163 137 136 West Virginia ....: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) Wisconsin ........: 2.6 1.1 399 127 151 121 Wyoming ..........: 0.1 0.1 10 12 140 138 : United States ....: 178.5 182.4 21,698 21,011 122 115 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (D) Withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual operations. (X) Not applicable. (Y) Less than level of precision shown. 1/ New England includes Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Livestock Slaughtered Under Federal Inspection by Class - United States [Data may not add to totals due to rounding] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : : : : January to December : : : : January to December Class : December : November : December :-----------------------: December : November : December :----------------------- : 2022 : 2023 : 2023 : 2022 : 2023 : 2022 : 2023 : 2023 : 2022 : 2023 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : --------------------- 1,000 head --------------------- ----------------- percent of total ---------------- : Cattle : Steers ...........: 1,194.9 1,209.2 1,197.8 15,811.0 15,075.3 45.3 45.1 47.0 47.0 46.8 Heifers ..........: 814.0 856.9 797.2 10,292.0 10,033.4 30.9 32.0 31.3 30.6 31.1 All cows .........: 588.0 570.7 516.6 6,998.9 6,592.2 22.3 21.3 20.3 20.8 20.5 Dairy cows .......: 266.3 229.7 224.7 3,047.3 3,076.0 10.1 8.6 8.8 9.1 9.5 Other cows .......: 321.7 341.0 291.9 3,951.6 3,516.2 12.2 12.7 11.5 11.7 10.9 Bulls ............: 41.2 44.4 37.2 564.5 531.5 1.6 1.7 1.5 1.7 1.6 : Total ............: 2,638.1 2,681.3 2,548.7 33,666.4 32,232.5 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 : Calves and : vealers ...... : 32.4 23.4 21.8 362.2 285.7 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 : Hogs : Barrows and : gilts ..........: 9,975.0 10,799.8 10,498.5 121,313.9 123,845.6 97.4 97.4 97.4 97.3 97.3 Sows .............: 250.1 257.9 254.2 3,066.7 3,183.7 2.4 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.5 Boars ............: 21.3 24.8 23.2 293.0 304.7 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 : Total ............: 10,246.5 11,082.6 10,775.8 124,673.6 127,334.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 : Sheep : Mature : sheep ..........: 9.7 10.4 10.2 110.5 117.7 6.3 6.2 6.4 6.3 6.4 Lambs and : yearlings ......: 144.7 158.0 149.5 1,648.3 1,721.0 93.7 93.8 93.6 93.7 93.6 : Total ............: 154.4 168.4 159.7 1,758.7 1,838.8 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Federally Inspected Slaughter Average Dressed Weight by Class - United States [Data may not add to totals due to rounding] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : : January to December Class : December : November : December :----------------------- : 2022 : 2023 : 2023 : 2022 : 2023 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : pounds : Cattle ............... : 833 840 849 829 825 Steers 1/ ...............: 923 935 941 909 908 Heifers 1/ ..............: 846 851 851 836 829 All cows 1/ .............: 632 619 628 631 627 Bulls 1/ ................: 843 851 862 871 870 : Calves and vealers ... : 137 178 172 146 164 : Hogs ................. : 217 215 217 216 213 Barrows and gilts 2/ ....: 215 213 215 214 211 Sows 2/ .................: 295 297 296 299 299 Boars 2/ ................: 195 196 218 193 193 : Sheep ................ : 64 60 60 66 62 Mature sheep 3/ .........: 63 64 64 64 64 Lambs and yearlings 3/ ..: 64 60 59 66 62 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Included in cattle average dressed weight. 2/ Included in hog average dressed weight. 3/ Included in sheep average dressed weight. Federally Inspected Slaughter - Regions and United States: December 2023 [Data may not add to totals due to rounding] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Cattle : Calves Standard :----------------------------------------------------------------------- federal : : : : Cows : : regions 1/ : Total : Steers :Heifers :--------------------------: Bulls : Total : : : : All : Dairy : Other : : -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 head : 1 ............: 2.6 1.1 0.8 0.4 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2 2 ............: 7.8 2.1 2.2 3.3 2.9 0.4 0.2 4.1 3 ............: 88.0 35.1 3.7 44.4 33.2 11.2 4.7 8.0 4 ............: 67.6 3.7 2.2 54.6 12.4 42.2 7.1 0.4 5 ............: 248.7 111.6 (D) 96.6 55.1 41.5 (D) 4.8 6 ............: 446.6 185.1 148.6 104.3 28.6 75.7 8.6 (D) 7 ............:1,142.8 613.6 449.7 74.6 7.4 67.1 5.0 (Y) 8 ............: 254.8 138.2 (D) 21.7 6.2 15.6 (D) (Y) 9 ............: 153.2 59.3 21.8 69.9 51.6 18.3 2.1 (D) 10 ...........: 136.7 48.0 40.3 46.7 27.0 19.8 1.7 (D) : United States :2,548.7 1,197.8 797.2 516.6 224.7 291.9 37.2 21.8 :---------------------------------------------------------------------- : Hogs : Sheep :---------------------------------------------------------------------- : Total : Barrows : : : Total : Mature :Lambs and : :and gilts: Sows : Boars : : sheep :yearlings :---------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 head : 1 ............: 2.4 2.4 (Y) (Y) 4.8 0.2 4.6 2 ............: 13.0 13.0 (Y) (Y) 22.1 2.2 19.9 3 ............: 290.2 289.9 (D) (D) 17.0 1.9 15.1 4 ............: (D) (D) 81.8 (D) 10.8 0.9 10.0 5 ............: 3,227.0 3,117.7 105.2 4.0 26.2 1.9 24.4 6 ............: 442.2 442.0 (D) (D) 16.2 (D) (D) 7 ............: 4,880.9 4,800.9 66.1 13.9 1.0 (D) (D) 8 ............: (D) (D) 0.5 (Y) 33.4 0.7 32.8 9 ............: 77.1 77.1 (Y) (Y) 23.7 1.6 22.2 10 ...........: 18.5 18.4 (Y) (Y) 4.4 0.2 4.2 : United States :10,775.8 10,498.5 254.2 23.2 159.7 10.2 149.5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (D) Withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual operations. (Y) Less than level of precision shown. 1/ States included in regions are as follows: 1 - Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont; 2 - New Jersey, New York; 3 - Delaware-Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia; 4 - Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee; 5 - Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin; 6 - Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas; 7 - Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska; 8- Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming; 9 - Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada; 10 - Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington. Federally Inspected Slaughter - Regions and United States: January to December 2023 [Data may not add to totals due to rounding] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Cattle : Calves Standard :----------------------------------------------------------------------- federal : : : : Cows : : regions 1/ : Total : Steers :Heifers :--------------------------: Bulls : Total : : : : All : Dairy : Other : : -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 head : 1 ............: 31.9 13.2 10.6 5.0 2.7 2.3 3.1 2.0 2 ............: 94.3 27.3 22.9 40.4 36.0 4.4 3.7 54.6 3 ............: 1,140.2 448.9 49.1 574.9 439.4 135.5 67.2 83.9 4 ............: 898.6 57.3 32.5 715.1 159.4 555.7 93.7 5.2 5 ............: 3,154.5 1,427.4 (D) 1,213.6 744.1 469.5 (D) 81.6 6 ............: 5,681.8 2,343.7 1,902.4 1,328.2 413.0 915.2 107.5 (D) 7 ............:14,145.1 7,576.1 5,578.4 908.3 88.4 819.9 82.4 0.5 8 ............: 3,294.3 1,752.8 (D) 272.2 71.0 201.2 (D) (Y) 9 ............: 2,073.3 826.0 306.6 911.7 736.5 175.3 29.0 (D) 10 ...........: 1,718.4 602.5 462.5 622.9 385.6 237.3 30.5 (D) : United States :32,232.5 15,075.3 10,033.4 6,592.2 3,076.0 3,516.2 531.5 285.7 :---------------------------------------------------------------------- : Hogs : Sheep :---------------------------------------------------------------------- : Total : Barrows : : : Total : Mature :Lambs and : :and gilts : Sows : Boars : : sheep :yearlings :---------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 head : 1 ............: 28.4 27.9 0.3 0.1 50.1 2.7 47.4 2 ............: 124.6 124.0 0.5 0.1 250.9 22.6 228.4 3 ............: 3,376.8 3,373.4 (D) (D) 179.7 18.1 161.6 4 ............: (D) (D) 946.2 (D) 124.4 11.0 113.4 5 ............: 38,318.5 36,913.1 1,346.7 58.8 330.5 22.3 308.2 6 ............: 5,709.1 5,706.2 (D) (D) 138.6 (D) (D) 7 ............: 56,557.7 55,509.0 877.8 170.9 11.4 (D) (D) 8 ............: (D) (D) 6.7 0.4 413.4 10.7 402.7 9 ............: 1,004.2 1,003.8 0.4 0.1 280.7 20.5 260.3 10 ...........: 219.6 219.1 0.3 0.1 59.0 3.0 55.9 : United States :127,334.0 123,845.6 3,183.7 304.7 1,838.8 117.7 1,721.0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (D) Withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual operations. (Y) Less than level of precision shown. 1/ States included in regions are as follows: 1 - Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont; 2 - New Jersey, New York; 3 - Delaware-Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia; 4 - Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee; 5 - Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin; 6 - Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas; 7 - Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska; 8- Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming; 9 - Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada; 10 - Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington. Federally Inspected Slaughter Percent of Total Commercial Slaughter - United States -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : : January to December Species : December : November : December :------------------------ : 2022 : 2023 : 2023 : 2022 : 2023 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : percent : Cattle .......: 98.3 98.2 98.3 98.1 98.2 Calves .......: 98.6 96.7 97.2 98.1 97.4 Hogs .........: 99.5 99.5 99.5 99.5 99.5 Sheep ........: 86.5 88.8 87.5 84.9 85.6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Terms and Definitions Used for Livestock Slaughter Estimates Average Live Weight: The weight of the whole animal, before slaughter. Excludes post-mortem condemnations. Commercial Production: Includes slaughter and meat production in federally inspected and other plants, but excludes animals slaughtered on farms. Based on packers' dressed weights. Custom-Exempt Plants: Plants that do not sell meat but operate on a custom basis only are custom-exempt. The animals and meat are not inspected, but the facilities must meet health standards. These are considered NFI plants and head kill is included in NFI totals. Dressed Weight: The weight of a chilled animal carcass. Beef with kidney knob in; veal with hide off; lamb and mutton with pluck out; pork with leaf fat and kidneys out, jowls on and head off. Dressing Percent: Usually expressed as a percentage yield of chilled carcass in relation to the weight of the live animal on hoof. For example, a live hog that weighed 200 pounds on hoof and yielded a carcass weighing 140 pounds would have a dressing percentage of 70. Federally Inspected (FI) Plants: Plants that transport meat interstate must employ federal inspectors to assure compliance with USDA standards. Any state whose commercial plants operate entirely under federal inspection may still have custom-exempt establishments for which NFI estimates are made. Food and Meat Inspection: Includes examination, checking, or testing of a carcass and/or meat against established government standards and involves checking the facility for cleanliness, health of animals, or parts of animals and quality of the meat produced. Non-Federally Inspected (NFI) Plants: Plants which sell and transport only intrastate. State inspectors assure compliance with individual state standards for these NFI plants. Mobile slaughtering units are excluded and are considered farm slaughter. Number of Head: Includes post-mortem condemnations. Plant, Slaughter: An establishment where animals are killed and butchered. Red Meat: Red meat production is the carcass weight after slaughter excluding condemnation and is comprised of beef, veal, pork, and lamb and mutton. The FI red meat production is equal to the total carcass weight after slaughter. The NFI meat production formula is (NFI head kill) X (live weight) X (FI dressing percentage) = NFI red meat production. Slaughter: Killing and butchering of animals primarily for food. Slaughter, Farm: Animals slaughtered on farms primarily for home consumption. Excludes custom slaughter for farmers at commercial establishments, but includes mobile slaughtering on farms. These estimates appear only in the annual slaughter release. Talmedge-Aiken (TA) Plants: Slaughter plants in which USDA is responsible for inspection. However, federal inspection is carried out by State employees. These plants are considered to be federally inspected. Total Live Weight: The total weight of live animals, before slaughter. Excludes post-mortem condemnations. Wholesome Meat Act: Legislation that specifies that all meat produced for sale in the United States must be inspected. Meat that is transported interstate must be inspected in compliance with Federal (USDA) Standards. Statistical Methodology Data Sources: Primary data for the Livestock Slaughter publication are obtained from electronic reports completed by inspectors from the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), USDA, which provide daily counts of animals slaughtered in Federally Inspected (FI) plants, in addition to total live and dressed weights. These counts are combined with data from State-administered Non-Federally Inspected (NFI) slaughter plants to derive total commercial slaughter estimates. There are approximately 950 livestock slaughter plants in the United States operating under Federal Inspection and nearly 1,950 Non-Federally Inspected (State-inspected or custom-exempt) slaughter plants. Slaughter from State- inspected Talmedge-Aiken plants is included in FI totals (see Terms and Definitions, page 14). To prevent duplication in reporting between FI and NFI plants and assure all FI plants are included, certificates prepared by FSIS identifying operating status are constantly monitored. Revision Policy: Number of head slaughtered, live weights, and dressed weights are subject to revision the following month after the monthly release. Annual totals are published in the slaughter summary each April which includes any revisions made to current and previous year's published data. Revisions are generally the result of late reports received from slaughter plants and are usually less than one-half of one percent. No revisions will be made to the previous year's data after the publication of the annual summary in April. Procedures and Reliability: The livestock slaughter data is obtained electronically on a daily basis and summarized approximately two weeks after the week of slaughter. A computer program compares each plant's data with the historical data for that plant. Data are checked for unusual values for head kill, patterns of kill, average weights, and dressing percent, based on each plant's past operating profile. In addition, the computer program provides a listing of missing reports for follow-up contact with FSIS. Average live and dressed weights and dressing percentages by State are compared with the previous weeks as an additional check. Fluctuations are frequently the result of plants permanently or temporarily closing and a shift in the species reported. The FSIS District Veterinary Medical Specialists (DVMS) are contacted by e- mail or telephone for missing or potentially erroneous slaughter data. This assures that plants slaughtering a large number of head or several species are accounted for each week. Any corrections FSIS makes to the slaughter data are included in the summary. Computer imputation may be necessary for incomplete reports. The imputation of live and dressed weights is based on the current week reported data of plants of similar size and location. Imputation for live and dressed weight data for cattle and hogs is less than 10 percent and 7 percent, respectively. The imputation for calves and sheep is more frequent and variable. If no data is received electronically or by other means, for plants slaughtering fewer than 50 total head weekly of only one species, data are imputed. The imputation of head for any plant is based on the historical data for that particular plant. The imputation of head slaughtered is rare but when necessary, the imputed head kill for missing plants usually is less than 1 percent of the United States head kill totals. FI data are summarized weekly and accumulated to a monthly total for this release. These weekly totals are published by USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) in Livestock, Meat, Wool Market News, Weekly Summary, and statistics are also available on the NASS website. NFI data are summarized monthly only. Livestock slaughter estimates are based on a census of operating plants and therefore, have no sampling error. However, they may be subject to non- sampling errors such as omissions, duplications and mistakes in reporting, recording and processing the data. These errors are minimized through rigid quality controls in the computer edit program and summarization process, and a careful review of all reported data for consistency and reasonableness. No data are published when an individual plant's data could be divulged. If not published, as indicated with a (D), these data are still included in United States and region totals. A review of the data is made annually to determine the publishable data. Information Contacts Listed below are the commodity specialists in the Livestock Branch of the National Agricultural Statistics Service to contact for additional information. E-mail inquiries may be sent to nass@usda.gov. Travis Averill, Chief, Livestock Branch ....................................................... (202) 692-0069 Scott Hollis, Head, Livestock Section ......................................................... (202) 690-2424 Sherry Bertramsen - Livestock Slaughter .................................................... (202) 690-8632 Ryan Cowen - Cattle, Cattle on Feed ........................................................ (202) 720-3040 Kim Dapra - Milk Production and Milk Cows .................................................. (512) 501-3266 Donnie Fike - Dairy Products ............................................................... (202) 690-3347 Anthony Fischer - Hogs and Pigs............................................................. (202) 720-3106 Suzanne Richards - Sheep and Goats ......................................................... (202) 720-4448 Access to NASS Reports For your convenience, you may access NASS reports and products the following ways: All reports are available electronically, at no cost, on the NASS web site: www.nass.usda.gov Both national and state specific reports are available via a free e- mail subscription. To set-up this free subscription, visit www.nass.usda.gov and click on "National" or "State" in upper right corner above "search" box to create an account and select the reports you would like to receive. Cornell's Mann Library has launched a new website housing NASS's and other agency's archived reports. The new website, https://usda.library.cornell.edu. All email subscriptions containing reports will be sent from the new website, https://usda.library.cornell.edu. To continue receiving the reports via e-mail, you will have to go to the new website, create a new account and re-subscribe to the reports. If you need instructions to set up an account or subscribe, they are located at: https://usda.library.cornell.edu/help. You should whitelist notifications@usda-esmis.library.cornell.edu in your email client to avoid the emails going into spam/junk folders. For more information on NASS surveys and reports, call the NASS Agricultural Statistics Hotline at (800) 727-9540, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET, or e-mail: nass@usda.gov. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination against its customers, employees, and applicants for employment on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, sex, gender identity, religion, reprisal, and where applicable, political beliefs, marital status, familial or parental status, sexual orientation, or all or part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program, or protected genetic information in employment or in any program or activity conducted or funded by the Department. (Not all prohibited bases will apply to all programs and/or employment activities.) If you wish to file a Civil Rights program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form (PDF), found online at www.ascr.usda.gov/filing-program-discrimination-complaint-usda-customer, or at any USDA office, or call (866) 632-9992 to request the form. You may also write a letter containing all of the information requested in the form. Send your completed complaint form or letter to us by mail at U.S. Department of Agriculture, Director, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, by fax (202) 690-7442 or email at program.intake@usda.gov.