With the USDA’s semi-annual Cattle Inventory report just two weeks away now, many in the industry are sharpening their pencils to forecast what the inventory numbers will be. Perhaps more so than any other year past, this year’s forecasting effort is complicated by several unusual factors. The most notable is the closure of the U.S.-Mexico border to livestock trade, which dramatically reduced feeder cattle imports to the U.S. and, by extension, pared back total cattle numbers. Additionally, the record-breaking prices for fed and feeder cattle and slaughter cows created the best year of profitability many producers will ever see. The enhanced profitability should incentivize large heifer and cow retention, but long-lead weather f...