As of Sept. 9, cow packing crops in Area 6—Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, and New Mexico—have processed 668,000 beef cows this yr, up 31% from final yr. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension livestock economist David Anderson mentioned how this compares to 2011 and 2012, when the final main drought within the area occurred, has been of specific curiosity.
To date in Area 6 this yr, Anderson mentioned 8,000 extra beef cows have been slaughtered than in 2011. In comparison with 2012, 164,900 head extra of beef cows have been processed. The 217,000 dairy cows processed this yr can be nicely above the 130,200 head slaughtered in 2011, however near the 213,800 in 2012, Anderson famous. Nonetheless, he identified that Texas had 200,000 extra dairy cows on January 1, 2022, than on January 1, 2011.
The states in Area 6 reported 8.4 million beef cows on January 1, 2022, in comparison with 8.8 million beef cows on January 1, 2011.
“Whereas cows might come into the area for slaughter, it’s seemingly {that a} bigger proportion of the herd has been culled this yr than within the final main drought,” Anderson defined. Nationally, beef cow slaughter is up 300,000 head this yr over 2021, and 263,500 over 2011.
Additional, Anderson mentioned important rainfall in components of Texas might restrain culling within the close to future and has additionally introduced extra average temperatures, offering one other increase.
“Watch nationwide and regional beef cow culling over the subsequent six weeks to higher gauge the influence of those storms. Seasonally, the most important cow culling weeks of the yr nationally happen in October and November. Rain and earlier heavy culling charges might pull again slaughter and increase costs.”
