For the second year in a row, less red meat left packing plants last year, with beef seeing the largest decline.
Last year, overall red meat production was down 2 percent compared to 2022. USDA numbers show just more than 54.5 billion pounds were processed.
Beef production took the largest hit, falling 5 percent on the year. Commercial slaughter was down 4 percent thanks to tighter numbers and lighter average weights.
However, pork production was up 1 percent, but those gains were canceled out by a 2 pound decline in average live weight.
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