Beef processing is nearing year-ago capacity quicker than many experts predicted and Dr. Derrell Peel, OSU Extension livestock market economist explains why in today’s Beef Buzz by the Radio Oklahoma Network. 

We’ve made remarkable progress, faster than many thought, Peel said, and packers have plenty of incentive to get back to capacity as quickly as possible. Estimated weekly slaughter is about 89% of one year ago and Peel said the carcass weights are 40 to 50 pounds heavier than normal, causing some difficulties with catching up on the backlog. The heavier carcass weights this year are equal to adding about 30,000 head to the weekly slaughter as compared to a year ago, Peel said. That’s helping ease the beef shortages in the near term but eventually the heavy weight cattle need to move through the system.  

Click here to listen to the full interview at Oklahoma Farm Report.