A Little About Slaughter Cows
A Little About Slaughter Cows
DR. ANDREW P. GRIFFITH
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE
The hot topic in cattle production is breeding females and their value. Much of the focus is on bred heifers and young cows, but some producers are willing to take their chances with older cows. The topic on hand today is the slaughter cow market. At the time of this writing, beef cow slaughter year-to-date was down nearly 15 percent compared to one year earlier. This is a large decline, and it is an important number in and of itself. However, it is also advantageous to disaggregate the data a little by region to determine regional differences in beef cow slaughter. This information lends itself to knowing where herd expansion may or may not occur in 2026.
In order to approach the question of where older cows are being retained versus marketed for slaughter, cattle inventory is compared to beef cow slaughter by region. The methodology used is not an exact science, because there is missing data as it relates to state beef cow inventory and some cows could be slaughtered in a different region than the region the state is included. However, it still provides some insight into what is happening across the country with slaughter cow marketing.
Regions 1 and 2 comprise most of the Northeast United States and will be ignored, because there is insufficient data and relatively few beef cows in that region. Region 8 is an oddity in that it comprises Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. Region 8 has a large quantity of cows, but most of them are slaughtered in region 6, 7, or 10. Again, this is not an exact science, but there is some useful information.
Region 3 includes Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Virginia. Based on slaughter through the middle of July, it would appear this region has slaughtered approximately 6.0 percent of the January 1, 2026 beef cow inventory for that region. Region 4 includes most of the Southeastern states (AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN), and beef cow slaughter has totaled 4.0 percent of January 1 beef cow inventory. Region 5 (IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI) is much like region 8 in that many of the slaughter cows are harvested in another region. However, region 5 only has about one-third as many beef cows as region 8. Region 6 (AR, LA, NM, TX, OK) is the largest region in terms of beef cow inventory and has slaughtered 3.2 percent of their January 1 beef cow inventory. Region 7 (IA, KS, MO, NE) is the second largest beef cow inventory region and has slaughtered 5.1 percent of their January 1 beef cow inventory. Region 9 (AZ, CA, HI, NV) and 10 (AK, ID, OR, WA) follow a similar pattern with beef cow slaughter at 5.8 percent and 4.6 percent of January 1 beef cow inventory, respectively.
It is difficult to make a determination whether certain regions are culling cows at a slower or faster pace than another region using this data. The crossover between regions makes it rather difficult. However, one can confidently say that region 6 beef cattle producers have slowed beef cow marketings and are attempting to grow their herds. This would make sense in that most of this region is not experiencing drought, which provides an opportunity to retain breeding animals. The same can also be said for region 4, which is primarily the Southeast. There is some drought in the Atlantic states, but most of the cows are further inland than the drought conditions.
The situation appears to be slightly different when discussing the Western states, Northern Plains and the Central Plains. The drought conditions in these regions appear to be forcing cows to slaughter. These drought conditions are making it impossible to grow the beef breeding herd in those states and regions. Even if forage conditions improve over the next two to three months, it may be difficult to justify retaining heifers or culling fewer cows at time of weaning.
There are several regions of the country being challenged by drought while other regions are in a position to take advantage of high cattle prices and large quantities of forage. Most of the Southeast and Southern Plains are in a good position while many of the other large cattle producing regions will face challenges. The January 1 cattle inventory report will confirm or refute these statements. ∆
DR. ANDREW P. GRIFFITH
UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE