The U.S. cattle herd is still in a contraction phase. USDA released its Cattle Inventory report yesterday. The total inventory of all cattle and calves as of 1 January was 87.2 million head; that compares to 89.3 million head, or 98 percent, of the cattle inventory on 1 January 2022. That is the smallest U.S. cattle herd since 1951.
Yesterday’s report made a few revisions on prior reports dating back to July 2022. The most significant was the beef heifer replacements for 1 January 2023. Last year, beef replacement heifers were reported at 5.1637 million head, or 94 percent of the January 2022 total. In this year’s revision, that number dropped to 4.9296 million head, which puts replacement heifers in the beginning of 2023 at...
What You Need to Know Today: Markets got a surprise with a corn yield of 181.2 bushels/acre in the October WASDE, above the average estimate of 177.6 bushels/acre and up from USDA’s September estimate of 178.5 bushels/acre. Although stronger demand is expected to absorb some of the addit...
Key Takeaways: On Friday afternoon, President Trump announced that Russia will “immediately supply over 300,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel” to the United States. The deal, typical of this administration, is light on details but promises an additional 500,000 tons in November and 1 m...
The USDA has lowered its 2026 red meat production forecasts slightly while forecasting a slight increase in broiler production. Beef is now projected at 24.802 billion pounds, 75 million pounds less than in September. Cow slaughter is expected to be up; however, this will be offset by lower ste...
