The U.S. cow herd continues to shrink now at its smallest size in 75 years. Despite a year of strong prices, USDA’s annual Cattle Inventory Report released Friday shows the U.S. cattle inventory shrank another .35% now at 86.2 million head. When you look at just the beef cows, that inventory fell 1%, sitting at 27.6 million head. The one positive number was beef replacement heifers at 4.71 million, which is up 1%.
Other highlights in the January cattle report include:
- Of the 86.2 million head inventory of all cattle and calves, cows and heifers that have calved totaled 37.2 million.
- The number of milk cows in the U.S. increased 2% to 9.57 million.
- U.S. calf crop was estimated at 32.9 million, down 2%.
- The number of cattle on feed was down 3% to 13.8 million.
Bi-annual Cattle report would be called lightly positive. 1) There was no sign of any type of January 2015 expansion (retained beef heifers +9.5%). 2) Overall, numbers came in just below the four analyst expectation. pic.twitter.com/lvNaDBusz3
— Rich Nelson (@RichNelsonMkts) January 30, 2026
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