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Arkansas Agriculture
Newsletters
Livestock Market News - Situation and Outlook
Week Ending July 30, 2010
MID-YEAR CATTLE INVENTORY BELOW A YEAR AGO: On Friday, July 23rd,
USDA-NASS reported that the mid-year U.S. cattle and calf inventory
posted another year-to-year decline as of July 1, 2010. The report
further confirmed that cow-calf producers have continued to reduce
their herds despite higher calf prices. The decline in cattle
numbers is mostly due to a variety of factors including production
costs that remain high relative to historical standards, record high
cull cow prices, and continued uncertainty in the market. Looking
ahead, tighter supplies of available cattle will be supportive to
fed and feeder cattle prices in 2010 and 2011. However, the degree
to which the economy recovers will be a key factor in domestic beef
demand and thus cattle prices over the next year.
USDA reported the U.S. cattle herd at 100.8 million head versus
102 million head last year and more than two percent below 2008’s
mid-year inventory. The number of beef cows at 31.7 million head was
down two percent or 500 thousand head from last year, while the
number of dairy cows was reported at 9.1 million, 100,000 thousand
head smaller than a year ago. According to the report, the number of
beef heifers held as replacements was over two percent smaller at
4.4 million head which suggests additional reductions in the cowherd
are to be expected. USDA estimated the calf crop at 35.4 million
head, 419 thousand head less than last year and the smallest since
1950.
A number of calves were held out on pasture before being placed
on feed this year as pasture and range conditions were much improved
over last year and feed grain costs are still rather high on an
historical basis. Thus as of July 1st, the calculated number of
feeder cattle outside feedlots was reported at 37.5 million head,
down about three percent from last year.
Federal-State Market News, P.O. Box 391,
Little Rock, AR 72203, (501) 671-2200
Prepared by Steven R. Cheney, USDA Officer-in-Charge
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