Total live weight was 7.0 million pounds, down 8 percent from a year earlier. Sheep slaughtered during 2000, totaled 2,800 head, unchanged from 1999. Live weight per head averaged 93 pounds, down 1 pound from a year earlier. Total live weight at 260,000 pounds, was down 2 percent from 1999. U. S. Annual Livestock Slaughter Red meat production in commercial plants and on farms for the United States totaled 46.3 billion pounds in 2000, slightly higher than the previous record high set in 1999.
Red meat includes beef, veal, pork, and lamb and mutton.
Red meat production in commercial plants totaled 46.2 billion pounds. Beef production, at 26.9 billion pounds, was up 1 percent from the previous record high set last year. Veal production totaled 225 million pounds, down 3 percent from the previous record low set last year. Pork production, at 19.0 billion pounds, was down almost 2 percent from the previous record high set last year. Lamb and mutton production totaled 236 million pounds, falling 4 percent below the previous record low set a year ago.