Cattle ranchers and feeders expanded their herds 3 percent in the past year, to 92 million head at the start of January, and cattle numbers, which generally declined since 1996, are up for the second year in a row, says the semi-annual Cattle inventory report.
Cattle numbers sank to 87.7 million in January 2014, the lowest cattle and calf total since 1951. Aided by record high meat prices in 2014, the cattle census rose 1 percent, to 89.1 million head at the start of 2015. Reuters said the figure for this year was the largest since 2011.
The USDA report said the number of beef cows on Jan. 1 of this year was up 4 percent and the number of heifers held for breeding was up 3 percent. Both are signs that cattle numbers will continue to climb. The calf crop in 2015 was 2-percent larger than in 2014, which means more cattle will be sent to slaughter in the coming year.
The cattle inventory and the beef cow total were larger than traders expected. “The surprise may be in just how aggressive[ly] cattle producers have answered the bell to put more hooves in their pastures,” said Beef Today.