Last year’s drought in the Northern Plains combined with the current dry conditions in the Southern Plains increased the number of cull cows moving through the auction markets. The U.S. cow herd is record low and DTN Market Analyst ShayLe Stewart is concerned packers will pull back on the slaughter pace. “We have to ask ourselves how much longer are packers going to continue to run above that 670,000 head per week mark if they’re seeing a deteriorating margin?”