Wednesday’s Cattle inventory report showed an unsurprising trend as the U.S. cow herd saw a 2 percent decrease since last year. Terrell Platt, Market Analyst for Cattlefax shares more.
Yet as those supplies remain tight, it’s important to give careful consideration to any retained females. Platt noted how cow size should be considered when herd rebuilding does begin. Emphasizing the importance of matching cattle to their environment.
Looking at the report, there were 87.2 million head of cattle and calves across U.S. farms at the start of the year, a 2 percent decrease year to date.
37.6 million head were cows or heifers that have calved with 28.2 million head of beef cows and 9.36 million head of dairy cows from that total.
There were 33.6 million calves born in the U.S. last year with 26 percent of that crop born in the second half of the year.