February 2

2/2 – In Friday’s semi-annual cattle inventory report, the USDA said all cattle and calves in the U.S. on Jan 1st (on pasture and in feedlots) totaled 86.2M head, down slightly (-0.3%) from 86.5M a year ago. Numbers across all categories confirm that 2026 will be another challenging year for beef supplies. The 2025 calf crop at 32.9M head, was down 1.6% from 2024. Beef cows, at 27.6M head, were down 1.0% from a year ago, marking the 7th straight annual decrease. On a positive note, beef replacement heifers expected to calve in 2026 (at 4.71M head) were up 1.4% from a year ago – but that’s not nearly enough to indicate any herd rebuilding has begun yet. In Jan’s WASDE, the USDA said that beef production declined by 3.6% in 2025 and projected an additional 1.0% drop in 2026. USDA says cattle prices averaged $224.37/cwt in 2025 and projects $236.00 in 2026, both numbers shattering the previous record-high of $187.12/cwt in 2024.