Cow Slaughter Down In October

The Daily Livestock Report indicates cow slaughter in  October was 563k head, down 5.2 percent compared to a year ago.  Even when  adjusting for the difference in marketing days, cow slaughter was still  0.8 percent lower than the previous year and the fifth consecutive month of  lower cow slaughter.  The decline was entirely due to fewer dairy cows  coming to market.  With cheese and milk prices on the retreat, it will be  interesting to see how long this trend continues.