USDA will release its semi-annual Cattle Inventory report on Monday estimating the herd size for all cattle and calves as of 1 January 2022. Pre-report expectations are that the cattle inventory will be 99 percent of last year, implying 92.5 million head – the smallest since 2017 and above the 2016 total of just under 92 million.
The calf crop is estimated to be 99 percent of last year’s report. Based on the pre-report estimates, 2022 looks to be the third straight year of a declining cattle herd, and given the expected cow and replacement heifer estimates, that streak will continue into 2023 and maybe into 2024. As we noted last week, beef cow slaughter in 2021 had its largest annual growth by percent since 2017 and wa...
What You Need to Know Today: Commodities were mostly lower across the board today after yesterday’s Federal Reserve meeting hinted at a potential interest rate hike later in 2026. The dollar index reached its highest level in over a year, and a strong dollar makes U.S. agricultural expor...
Tomorrow is the Juneteenth federal holiday, and the USDA, along with the rest of the federal government and the CME, will be closed, so the monthly Cattle on Feed report was released a day early. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity on 1 June amounted...
