The poorer feeding conditions brought on by the weather resulted in slower animal weight gains and therefore fewer cattle being market ready into the first quarter of 2001. Total cattle-on –feed inventories on January 1 and April 1 were up 3% year on year, while during February the adverse weather conditions and one less slaughter day conspired to reduce the marketing pace by 16%. Last month (May 2001) commercial cattle slaughter was down 4% and steer and heifer slaughter down by 5%. However, cow slaughter was up over 6% as producers sought to conserve their rapidly tightening haystocks, which were down 27% on May 1 from a year earlier.

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