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US Beef Supplies Are Shrinking as Grilling Season Begins

Cattle at a ranch in Blanchard, Oklahoma.

Photographer: Nick Oxford/Bloomberg

Supplies of both beef and cattle are dropping, just as the US Memorial Day holiday signals the unofficial start of outdoor grilling season.

Two US Department of Agriculture reports Friday show any recovery in the sector is still far away. The number of cattle bulking up in US feedlots declined to the lowest seasonal level since 2020 while supplies of beef in cold storage fell to about 418 million pounds in April, the lowest for this time of year since 2014.