Final 2018 Red Meat Production USDA released the final tally of 2018 red meat production yesterday. Beef and pork production were individually 103 percent of the prior year. Their aggregate total of 53.5 billion pounds was also 103 percent of the record set in 2017. Production forecasts for 2019 have beef at 101.5 percent of last year’s total and pork production at 104 percent. Meanwhile, U.S. pork production is projected to surpass the total volume of beef by 45 million pounds.

The higher production is the result of slightly expanded slaughter capacity. There were 837 plants slaughtering under federal inspection on 1 January 2019 versus 834 the year before. Of these, 663 plants slaughtered at least one head of cattle during 2018...