herd size

In an effort to help local ranchers capitalize on the nation’s smallest beef herd is more than six decades, University of Idaho beef experts will hold a series of workshops next month.   The Heifer Development Workshops, which kick of Wednesday November 6th in Washington County, will cover how to select better heifers, effective and economical heifer development and strategies for improved reprodu

It's becoming an unpleasant theme for the year, U.S. dairy operators could see a further squeeze on their margins as 2023 continues.  USDA Outlook Board Chairman Mark Jekanowski says once again, they’ve increased production projections while trimming milk prices.   So, wh...

Cattle and calves on feed for feedlots with a capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 11.7 million on January 1st.  The inventory was 3% below January 1st of last year.  That inventory included 7.03 million steers and steer calves, down 4% from the previous year.  That group accoun...

USDA analysts have been projecting that U.S. milk output this year will total roughly 227 billion pounds, topping 2021’s output by roughly 700 million pounds.  Monday's USDA milk production report says that as we started the month of December the nation's dairies had already produced this year a little over 207.7 billion pound...

U.S. beef production, both this year and next, are expected to increase.   “Our beef production forecast we raised by 130 million pounds to just over 28 billion pounds for 2022, reflecting a bit of an uptick in slaughter pace and higher carcass weights," said World Agricultural Outlook Board Chair Mark Jekanowski.  "And for 2023...

The drought and high feed costs have forced some cattle producers to reduce herd size, and some producers across the nation have hinted at quitting the business altogether.   "It doesn’t surprise me that there are people thinking about getting out of the business," said Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack.  "The reality ...

American shoppers struggling with inflation are looking at higher beef prices continuing in their local meat cases.  Because of high feed prices and severe drought, ranchers were forced to reduce their cattle herds.  Grain prices have dropped to their lowest levels since Russia invaded Ukraine, but Reuters says that might not mean lower food prices right away at the grocery store.  Corn fu... Read

New data from USDA’s Economic Research Service shows the U.S. dairy sector has experienced a gradual shift in milk production toward larger dairy operations. The research indicates that the shift in production from small dairy herd-size farms to large dairy herd-size farms mirrors total factor productivity growth across the dairy sector. Tot ...

The cattle herd nationwide, continues to contract, and USDA livestock analyst Shayle Shagam expects that trend to continue throughout the year. "We are looking at expectations of a continued decline of probably 1-2% in the cattle inventory during 2022 ...

When looking at the beef cattle business, USDA Outlook Chairman Mark Jekanowski expects a tightening of the U.S. cattle supply for the rest of this year. He noted the industry is in the midst of a decline in cattle numbers that will lead to beef production dropping by well over a half billion pounds compared to 2021's numbers ...