By Julie Tomascik
Editor
The U.S. and Texas cattle herds once again showed decreases on the Jan. 1 cattle inventory report released this week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
There were 87.2 million head of cattle and calves in the U.S., down 2% from 89.3 million head last year. This is the smallest cattle inventory number ever recorded.
Texas is one of 34 states that showed year-over-year declines in cattle numbers.
In Texas, there were 12 million cattle and calves, down from last year’s 12.5 million.
“This report isn’t a surprise. A decline in cattle numbers in Texas and the U.S. was expected after another year of severe drought conditions and increased input costs,” Tracy Tomascik, Texas Farm Bureau associate director of Commodity and Regulatory Activities, said. “Hopefully, the tight supplies combined with strong beef demand will lead to higher prices for ranchers.”
U.S. cattle numbers
USDA’s cattle inventory report also showed all cows and heifers that have calved down 2% to 37.6 million head.
Beef cows, at 28.2 million head, were down 2% from a year ago.
All heifers 500 pounds and over as of Jan. 1 totaled 18.5 million head, 1% below the 18.8 million head last year. Beef replacement heifers, at 4.86 million head, were down 1% from a year ago.
Milk cows, at 9.36 million head, were down slightly from the previous year. Milk replacement heifers were also down from last year, totaling 4.06 million head.
Other heifers were down 2%, totaling 9.57 million head.
Bulls weighing 500 pounds and over were down slightly. They totaled 2.02 million head on Jan. 1.
Cattle on feed
Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the U.S. for all feedlots totaled 14.4 million head. The inventory is up 2% from last year’s 14.2 million head.
Cattle on feed in feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head accounted for 82.7% of the total cattle on feed, up slightly from the previous year. The combined total of calves under 500 pounds and other heifers and steers over 500 pounds (outside of feedlots), at 24.2 million head, was 4% below last year.
U.S. calf crop
The 2023 calf crop in the U.S. was estimated at 33.6 million head. That is down 2% from the previous year’s calf crop. This is the smallest calf crop on record, according to USDA.
Calves born during the first half of 2023 were estimated at 24.7 million head, down 2% from the first half of 2022. Calves born during the second of 2023 were estimated at 8.89 million head, 26% of the total 2023 calf crop.
Texas cattle numbers
The 2023 calf crop in Texas was down 7% and estimated at 4.25 million head.
Beef cows, at 4.115 million head, were down 4% from a year ago.
Milk cows were down in Texas. There are 635,000 head, down 2% from last year.
Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in Texas for all feedlots totaled 2.87 million head. The inventory is up 3% from a year ago.
More information
The full cattle inventory report can be found here.
To obtain an accurate measurement of the current state of the U.S. cattle industry, USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service surveyed about 36,300 operators across the nation during the first half of January.
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