Statistics & Information

For the most current coverage of the livestock industry see the monthly newsletter Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry.

Table 1. U.S. beef industry
Year	Averaged annual U.S. retail Choice beef price ($/lb)*	Retail equivalent value of U.S. beef industry ($ billion)	Total U.S. beef consumption (billion lb)	Value of U.S. cattle and calf production ($ billion)	U.S. beef production (commercial carcass weight, billion lb)	U.S. beef exports (commercial carcass weight, billion lb)	U.S. beef exports (value in $ billion)	U.S. beef exports as percent of production (%)
2002	3.32	60	27.9	27.1	27.09	2.447	2.629	9.0
2003	3.75	63	27.0	32.1	26.24	2.518	3.186	9.6
2004	4.07	70	27.8	34.8	24.55	0.460	0.631	1.9
2005	4.09	71	27.8	36.6	24.68	0.697	1.031	2.8
2006	3.97	71	28.1	35.6	26.15	1.145	1.617	4.4
2007	4.16	74	28.1	36.0	26.42	1.434	2.187	5.4
2008	4.33	76	27.3	35.6	26.56	1.996	3.014	7.5
2009	4.26	73	26.8	32.0	26.07	1.935	2.909	7.4
2010	4.40	74	26.4	37.0	26.41	2.300	3.839	8.7
2011	4.81	79	25.5	45.2	26.28	2.785	5.041	10.6
2012	4.99	85	25.8	48.2	26.00	2.453	5.114	9.4
2013	5.29	88	25.5	48.5	25.70	2.589	5.721	10.1
2014	5.97	94	24.7	60.0	24.20	2.573	6.519	10.6
2015	6.29	105	24.8	60.0	23.70	2.266	5.621	9.6
*BSE was confirmed in the U.S. cattle herd in late December 2003. Sources: USDA, Economic Research Service, World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, and National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Current cattle/beef prices:
- Daily
- Weekly
Retail beef prices-annual, quarterly, monthly

Table 2. Cattle commercial slaughter and inventories (in million head)
Year	U.S. commercial slaughter - Total	U.S. commercial slaughter - Steers & heifers	U.S. commercial slaughter - Cows	Cattle & calf inventories - U.S.	Cattle & calf inventories - Canada
Year	2002	35.735	29.4	5.8	96.7	13.8
2003	35.494	28.7	6.1	96.1	13.5
2004	32.728	27.0	5.2	94.4	14.6
2005	32.388	27.0	4.9	95.0	14.9
2006	33.698	27.8	5.4	96.3	14.7
2007	34.264	27.9	5.8	96.6	14.1
2008	34.365	27.5	6.3	96.0	13.8
2009	33.338	26.5	6.2	94.7	13.0
2010	34.249	27.1	6.5	94.1	12.7
2011	34.409	26.7	6.8	92.9	12.2
2012	32.951	25.8	6.6	91.2	12.2
2013	32.462	25.5	6.4	90.1	12.3
2014	30.168	24.1	5.5	88.5	12.2
2015	28.752	23.0	5.2	89.1	11.9
Sources: USDA, Economic Research Service, World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, and National Agricultural Statistics Service.

U.S. livestock outlook/situation:

Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Outlook (includes current situation and forecasts)
World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (all issues)
U.S.-Canada cattle inventories

Table 3a. U.S.-Canada Cattle and Beef Trade: U.S. Cattle Imports
Year	Total (million head)	From Canada (million head)¹	Share from Canada (%)
2002	2.503	1.686	67.0
2003	1.752	0.512	29.0
2004	1.371	*	< 0.1
2005	1.816	0.559	31.0
2006	2.289	1.032	45.0
2007	2.495	1.405	56.0
2008	2.284	1.581	69.0
2009	2.002	1.061	53.0
2010	2.284	1.063	47.0
2011	2.107	0.686	33.0
2012	2.283	0.815	35.7
2013	2.03	1.04	51.1
2014	2.36	1.24	52.5
2015	1.98	0.83	41.9
¹Cattle shipments from Canada to the United States may include animals transshipped through Canada from Hawaii or Alaska. *135 head. Source: USDA, Economic Research Service.

Table 3b. U.S.-Canada cattle and beef trade: U.S. beef and veal imports
Year	Total (billion lb, carcass weight)	From Canada (billion lb, carcass weight)¹	Share from Canada (%)	Imports from Canada as share of U.S. beef consumptions (%)
2002	3.218	1.091	34.0	3.9
2003	3.006	0.74	25.0	2.7
2004	3.679	1.062	29.0	3.8
2005	3.599	1.092	30.0	3.9
2006	3.085	0.844	27.0	3.0
2007	3.052	0.789	26.0	2.8
2008	2.538	0.841	33.0	3.1
2009	2.627	0.812	31.0	3.0
2010	2.297	0.861	31.0	3.3
2011	2.056	0.689	34.0	2.7
2012	2.220	0.537	24.2	2.1
2013	2.250	0.538	23.9	2.1
2014	2.947	0.602	20.4	2.4
2015	3.370	0.628	18.6	2.5
¹Some products imported from Canada could be made from animals originally exported from the United States. Source: USDA, Economic Research Service.

Table 4. Value of Canadian beef and cattle exports (in billion $ Canadian)
Year	Live animals	Beef products	Total sales
2002	1.832	2.073	3.904
2003	0.592	1.378	1.970
2004	0.000	1.872	1.872
2005	0.628	1.781	2.409
2006	1.189	1.262	2.450
2007	1.545	1.133	2.678
2008	1.646	1.220	2.865
2009	1.122	1.149	2.271
2010	1.128	1.317	2.445
2011	0.890	1.196	2.086
2012	1.109	1.059	2.168
2013	1.357	1.148	2.502
2014	2.012	1.678	3.690
2015	1.757	1.957	3.714
Note: Live animals = HS 0102; Beef products = HS 160250, 0201, and 0202. Source: World Trade Atlas.

Table 5. Top markets for U.S. beef
Year	Japan volume (mpcw)*	Japan value ($ million)	Mexico volume (mpcw)*	Mexico value ($ million)	South Korea volume (mpcw)*	South Korea value ($ million)	Canada volume (mpcw)*	Canada value ($ million)
Year	2003	918	1,182	586	623	587	754	227	309
2004	12	31	333	393	1	2	56	105
2005	17	50	464	584	1	3	106	194
2006	52	105	660	786	1	4	239	415
2007	159	294	586	737	78	124	339	576
2008	231	439	759	895	152	291	389	683
2009	274	495	628	770	141	215	363	622
2010	351	662	500	669	277	504	391	731
2011	456	873	488	791	380	661	500	1,039
2012	449	1,000	352	647	305	548	467	1,189
2013	671	1,283	403	739	253	567	467	1,197
2014	662	1,419	435	943	301	824	364	1,052
2015	538	1,080	363	852	319	778	324	925
*mpcw stands for million lb carcass weight. Note: BSE was confirmed in a U.S. cattle sample in late December 2003. Before BSE, countries included accounted for over 90 percent of U.S. beef exports. Volumes on a carcass weight basis. Sources: USDA, Economic Research Service, World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, and National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Want more information?

Economic Impacts of Feed-Related Regulatory Responses to Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy , September 2008.
An Economic Chronology of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy in North America , June 2006.
Did BSE Announcements Reduce Beef Purchases? , December 2006.
International Trade and Food Safety: Economic Theory and Case Studies , November 2003.

Information on BSE from other USDA agencies: