Brazil’s beef cycle requires buyers to read slaughter, carcass weight and cow retention together

A new sector report from Banco do Nordeste describes a Brazilian beef chain with two signals that need to be read together. In the first half of 2026, slaughter rose 2.3% to 21.03 million head and carcass weights increased 4.0%. At the same time, fewer cows were marketed, which the report interprets as gradual breeding-female retention. Supply is therefore still high, but the cattle cycle may be turning toward tighter availability later on.