U.S. cattle herd at lowest in 8 years

America’s cattle inventory totaled 89.3 million head as of Jan. 1, according to USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) — 3% fewer than the 92.1 million a year ago.

NASS’ estimate for all cows and heifers that calved was 38.3 million, down 3% from 2022.

After sending 13.1% more beef cows to slaughter last year, the Jan. 1 inventory of beef cows was 28.9 million, down 4% from a year ago and matched the general consensus that the beef cow number would decline by a million head or more. The actual number was a decline of 1.065 million head. Milk cows at 9.4 million were slightly higher than last year.

The drought has played a huge role in the reduction of herds across the country, with Oklahoma showing the largest total inventory decline among top cattle states, with an 11% decline.