agricultural · input
Fed cattle at ~1,350 lbs market weight; herd fell to 61-year low in early 2024 due to sustained drought; herd rebuilding takes 2-3 years; cattle inventory is the ultimate constraint on US beef supply
4
Source countries
4
Companies
1
Goods affected
0
Claims on record
What depends on it
1 essential American goods rely on live cattle (fed cattle for slaughter) somewhere upstream in their supply chain.
Where it comes from
Share of global supply, by country.
| Country | Share of supply |
|---|---|
| USUnited States | 18% |
| BRBrazil | 15% |
| INIndia | 12% |
| AUAustralia | 8% |
Who makes it
4 companies produce live cattle (fed cattle for slaughter).
Largest US beef processor; ~25% US beef processing share; wholly owned subsidiary of JBS S.A. (Brazil), the world's largest meat company by sales; May 2021 cyberattack (Russian REvil ransomware) shut down all 9 US beef plants for 1 week; paid $11M ransom in Bitcoin
Second-largest US beef processor (~20-22% share); also largest US chicken processor; chairman John Tyson declared "the food supply chain is breaking" in April 2020 when COVID closures hit multiple plants simultaneously
Cargill, Incorporated (Wayzata MN; private; ~$177B revenue FY2023; founded 1865; largest private company in the US by revenue) is the world's third-largest soybean crusher by capacity and the largest private commodity trading firm globally. Cargill operates soybean processing facilities in the US (Eddyville IA, Iowa Falls IA, Memphis TN, Wichita KS, Sidney OH) and Brazil (multiple Mato Grosso do Sul and Parana state locations). Cargill's animal nutrition division (Cargill Premix and Nutrition) directly sells soybean meal-based swine feed supplements and complete swine feed rations to US hog producers — vertically integrating crush to feed formulation. Cargill is both a major soybean meal producer (from its crush operations) and a major swine feed seller (through its nutrition business), making it uniquely positioned across the soybean-to-pork value chain. Cargill is family-controlled (Whitney MacMillan family) and does not report detailed financial segments publicly. US soybean crush: Cargill holds an estimated 15-20% of US crush capacity.
Fourth-largest US beef processor (~12% share); majority-owned by Marfrig Global Foods (Brazil); operates large beef plants in Kansas (Liberal, Dodge City) and Iowa; foreign ownership alongside JBS means Brazilian companies control ~37% of US beef processing capacity
