Kyle Colyn

Dr. Bajema

Data acquisition

1-20-16

Analysis

The United States beef industry has been decreasing over the last ten years. In 2005, per

capita consumption of beef in pounds was 65.4. The next ten years are as follows: 65.7, 65.0,

62.1, 62.0, 59.4, 57.0, 57.1, 56.3, 54.2, and 54.3. The pork industry has been much more

consistent. Per capita consumption of pork starting in 2005 are as follows: 49.6, 49.0, 50.3, 48.9,

49.6, 49.0, 45.1, 45.3, 46.8, 46.4, and it is now 49.7 pounds per year. Turkey industry has been

consistent as well. Per capita consumption of turkey starting in 2005 are as follows: 16.7, 16.9,

19.5, 17.6, 16.9, 16.4, 16.0, 15.9, 16.0, 15.8, and it is currently at 15.5 pounds per year.

per capita consumption

70
60
50
pounds

40
30
20
10
0
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
years

beef pork turkey

Linear (beef) Linear (pork) Linear (turkey)
 The trend is relatively constant consumption of turkey, a slowly decreasing beef industry,

and a fairly consistent pork industry. I think that the U.S. beef consumption is going down

because there is more of a demand for other meats such as pork and turkey. Turkey is becoming

more consumed because it is becoming more popular, and people want more turkeys for special

events such as Thanksgiving. The pork industry has been consistent because it is affordable and

in high demand. The implications to the producers show that beef has been and will continue to

be in high demand. Turkey is slowly becoming more popular so it may be good for producers to

supply more turkeys because the consumers seem to be wanting more of it. Pork, beef, and

turkey all seem to be in high demand or in growing demand. This means that the commodities

will need to be reproducing rapidly if producers want to be successful.

I used the national chicken council because I thought the information was very detailed

for the different types of poultry and livestock that I was researching. The source gave several

years’ worth of information which I could use to identify the trend of consumption amounts that

I was looking for. More information made it easier to identify the trend and it also makes it more

reliable for predictions for the future. These numbers correspond with the book up to about 2010

because that is when the book was published and released. After 2010, I can see that the trend is

similar, but the book had no way of knowing for sure what the exact values of meat consumption

per pound would be for pork, beef, and chicken.