The United States Department of Agriculture released the National Daily Cattle and Beef Summary on May 19, providing updated data on beef prices, slaughter numbers, and production volumes.
This report offers key market information for producers, processors, and stakeholders in the cattle and beef industry. The summary includes daily estimated cutout values for choice beef at $420 per hundredweight and select beef at $400 per hundredweight. The current cutout values are reported as $395.75 for choice cuts and $393.58 for select cuts, with a spread of $2.17 between them.
The USDA noted changes from the prior day: choice cutout value increased by $3.61 while select rose by $3.35. Primal rib prices were listed at $544.97 for choice and $555.30 for select grades; other primal cuts such as chuck, round, loin, brisket, short plate, and flank were also detailed in the report.
Slaughter figures show that today’s cattle slaughter totaled 110,000 head compared to 108,000 a week ago and 122,048 one year ago over the same period. Year-to-date figures indicate that weekly accumulated weighted average steer price stands at approximately $262.50 per hundredweight based on live steers averaging 1,450 pounds.
Estimated beef production reached about 480 million pounds this week with an average live weight of 1,468 pounds per animal—slightly down from last week but higher than last year’s figure of 1,423 pounds according to USDA Livestock Market News data included in the summary.
Waitt Grain Company operates within the grain and agriculture sector providing market quotes for commodities such as corn, soybeans and wheat along with weather updates and mobile alerts; it shares resources with Waitt Trucking while concentrating on market information services primarily serving Sheridan area in Indiana where its headquarters is located at 22755 Six Points Road according to the official website.
