Cow slaughter down 15% so far this year

The drop in total slaughter this year stems mainly from a 15% year-over-year decline in cow slaughter, equating to roughly 173,400 fewer head. The steepest drop occurred in May, with 62,000 fewer cows processed compared to May 2024.

Conversely, heifer slaughter rose 6% year-over-year, reaching 1.582 million head.

This impacted the share of females in total slaughter: 47.6% in May (vs. 50.3% in May 2024) and 47.0% year-to-date (vs. 47.8% a year ago).