The U.S. cattle inventory is up for the first time since 2007, an indication of the long-awaited turn-around in herd numbers. In its semi-annual Cattle report, USDA said there were 89.8 million cattle and calves in the country on Jan 1, up 1 percent from the previous year. The number of beef cows was up by 2 percent and beef replacement heifers up 4 percent, two signs that producers intend to expand production. It takes six to 18 months for herd expansion to put more beef into stores. Beef prices hit record highs in grocery stores last year because of tight supplies and they are expected to climb again this year. The report, based on a survey of 38,200 producers, has a margin of error of 1.2 percent.
“The surprise may be in just how aggressively cattle producers have answered the bell to put more hooves in their pastures,” said Beef magazine. It says “perhaps the most compelling figure in the report” is the 4 percent increase in beef replacement heifers, rising to 5.8 million head. “Mother Nature still holds all the aces and whether or not it rains, how much it rains, where it rains and when it rains will ultimately determine how many of those heifers remain in the cow herd and have a calf and how many will make an early departure to the feedyard.”