Markets
Beef Packing
Finds Balance
By Lee Schulz, Iowa State Extension Livestock Economist
In 1999, packing plants that slaughtered more
than 1 million cattle per year slaughtered
19.9 million head, or 56.1%, of the federally
inspected cattle slaughter (Figure 1). In 2018,
plants with over 1 million head per year capacity
slaughtered 18.4 million head, or 56.5%, of
the FI slaughter. Their volume is down, and
it’s a stretch to characterize a 0.4% rise in
market share over 20 years as a takeover.
174 | JUNE/JULY 2019
The relatively small rise in market share by the
giants suggests that smaller slaughter facilities,
in aggregate, are maintaining market share. In
2018, packing plants that slaughtered between
1 and 9,999 head slaughtered 427,300 head, or
1.3%, of the FI cattle slaughter annually, 3.5% for
plants slaughtering between 10,000 and 99,999
head, and 38.7% for plants slaughtering between
100,000 and 999,999 head. This compares to
1.5%, 4.4% and 38.0%, respectively, in 1999.