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USDA lowers meat production estimate but sees 2021 bounce back

The disruption in the meat marketing chain caused by the pandemic has led to declines across all categories. USDA chief economist Rob Johansson says they originally projected a new record for total meat output this year of 108-Billion pounds. But, now, he says, “We’ve brought that down by almost five billion pounds so we’re ending at 103.57 billion pounds for total meat production in 2020. Expectation is that next year markets will return and we’ll see a bounce back.”

The USDA expects total meat production to be just over 107-Billion pounds in 2021, still below the original projection for THIS year.