000389 Beef Group Sees Producer Profits Thru 2003March 31, 2000Washington - The vast majority of U.S. beef producers should see higher profits during the next three years due to an increase in demand and smaller calf crops, a cattlemen group said. Cattle-Fax projected eighty to ninety percent of all U.S. cattle producers to be profitable through 2003. Randy Blach, the group's chief operating officer, told reporters U.S. cattle producers this year will experience the second-largest beef production ever, following last year's record setting output. The cattlemen group forecasted commercial beef production to fall around two percent this year to 26 billion lbs, compared to 26.4 billion lbs last year. “With the turnaround in 1999, there is a favorable environment, especially for cattle calf, in the next three to four years,” Blach said. The recent stabilization of the Asian economy has improved demand for U.S. beef exports. Exports now total nearly 2.3 billion lbs or nine percent of commercial beef production, the group said. Further 2000 projections by Cattle-Fax include a marginal decrease in commercial cow slaughter and a bottoming-out of the U.S. cattle inventory.
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