Graph and headline: Drovers, 10/13/2026
Angie Stump Denton reports:
Long-term supply constraints continue to compress beef output. In Cattle Market Notes Weekly, Maples, Mississippi State University associate professor and livestock extension economist, notes the impact of a contracted national herd is now fully manifesting in processing volumes.
“Tight cattle supplies over the past few years are leading to tight beef supplies now and the latest USDA report revised 2026 and 2027 production estimates lower again,” Maples says. “USDA’s October WASDE report lowered the beef production forecasts for both 2026 and 2027. The 2026 estimate was cut 75 million lb. to 24.8 billion lb., which would be about 4.6% below 2025 and the smallest annual total since 2015. The 2027 forecast was reduced 160 million lb. to 24.7 billion lb., which would be about a half percent below the 2026 estimate.”
Maples points out October marked the eighth consecutive month USDA lowered its 2026 beef production estimate, pulling it roughly 1 billion lb. below where forecasts stood at the start of the year. [emphasis added]
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