All cattle and calves in the United States on July 1, 2022, totaled 98.8 million head, according to the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) cattle inventory report. That’s down 2% from the 101 million head on July 1, 2021.
All cows and heifers that have calved totaled 39.8 million head, 2% below the 40.6 million head on July 1, 2021.
Beef cows totaled 30.4 million head, also down 2% from a year ago.
U.S. Cattle Inventory Report
Milk cows, at 9.45 million head, were down 1% from last year.
All heifers 500 pounds and over totaled 15.6 million head, 2% below the 15.9 million head a year ago. Beef replacement heifers were down 3% at 4.15 million head, and milk replacement heifers were down 1% at 3.75 million head. Other heifers, at 7.70 million head, were down 1% from the previous year.
Steers 500 pounds and over totaled 14.4 million head. That’s down 1% from the 2021 report.
Bulls 500 pounds and over totaled 2 million head, which was unchanged from the previous year.
Calves under 500 pounds were down 3% from a year earlier, totaling 27 million head.
Calf crop
USDA’s report estimates the 2022 calf crop in the U.S. to be 34.6 million head, down 1% from last year.
Calves born during the first half of the year are estimated at 25.3 million head, which is down 1% from the first half of 2021. An additional 9.3 million calves are expected to be born during the second half of 2022.
Cattle and calves on feed
Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the U.S. for all feedlots totaled 13.4 million head as of July 1, 2022. That is unchanged from the previous year.
Cattle on feed in feedlots with a capacity of 1,000 or more head accounted for 84.6% of the total cattle on feed, up slightly from the previous year.
The total of calves under 500 pounds and other heifers and steers over 500 pounds (outside of feedlots) totaled 35.7 million head, down 3% from the 36.7 million head a year ago.
More information
The full Cattle Inventory report can be found here.
USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service surveyed about 15,400 operators across the nation during the first half of July. Surveyed producers were asked to report their cattle inventories as of July 1, 2022, and calf crop for the entire year of 2022 by internet, mail or telephone.