USDA’s July “Cattle” report showed that the U.S. beef cow herd continued to decline through the first half of the year. The July 1 beef cow inventory was 29.4 million head, down 2.6% year over year. This is the fifth year of smaller beef cow inventories since the 2018 cyclical peak, with the beef cow herd down 3.0 million head, a five-year decrease of 9.3%. The smaller beef cow herd is part of a general decrease in all cattle numbers in the U.S.
The total inventory of all cattle and calves in this report was 95.9 million head, down 2.7% year over year. The total inventory of…
