Cattle Inventory Down 1% in January

All cattle and calves in the United States as of January 1st totaled 86.7 million head, 1% below the 87.2 million head reported on January 1st, 2024.  All cows and heifers that have calved at 37.2 million head were slightly below the 37.4 million head last year.  Beef cows, at 27.9 million head, were down 1% from a year ago.  Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the U.S. for all feedlots totaled 14.3 million head on January 1st of this year.  That inventory is down 1% year-over-year.

The USDA report says cattle on feed in feedlots with a capacity of 1,000 or more head accounted for 82.7% of the total cattle on feed on January 1st, 2025.  The 2024 calf crop in the U.S. was estimated at 33.5 million head, down slightly from the previous year’s calf crop.

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