All cattle and calves in the United States as of January 1 totaled 89.3 million head, down three percent from a year ago. All cows and heifers totaled 38.3 million head, down three percent from a year ago. Beef cow inventory was down four percent from a year ago at 28.9 million head and the lowest inventory on record while milk cow inventory is up slightly at 9.4 million head. Replacement beef heifers are down six percent and milk replacement heifers are down two percent from a year ago. USDA livestock analyst Shayle Shagam says beef cow replacement dropped from last year. “The number of heifers that producers are retaining for beef cow replacement was just under 5.2 million head which was about 6% below a year earlier. We had steers at about 16.1 million head down 3%, about 2 million head down 4% in calves under 500 pounds at about 13.6% about 3% below a year earlier.”
News Categories
Latest RRFN Podcasts
Subscribe to RRFN
Get a weekly digest from RRFN to stay up-to-date on all the latest news in agriculture.